What is the title of your latest release?
DEAD & BREAKFAST
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A married vampire couple who run a struggling B&B in small town Oregon must prove their innocence when the anti-paranormal mayor shows up dead in their garden with bite marks on his neck.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
DEAD & BREAKFAST is set in the fictional town of Trident Falls, Oregon. Rosiee has been a lifelong Oregonian, so setting the book there felt quite natural. Plus, we wanted to evoke both the idyllic countryside retirement vibe and engage with the realities of being queer in rural Oregon. Arthur and Sal love their town, even when it doesn’t love them back, and the community they build there is small but mighty–reminiscent of so many across the state that we wanted to pay homage to.
Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
We would absolutely visit Arthur and Sal at their B&B and chat about the best ways to solve murders (and make puns) over tea and snacks. Arthur is an amazing cook, and Sal is always a fun time. We’d just make sure to leave before either of us becomes the subject of their next murder investigation.
What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Steadfast, no-nonsense, earnest
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
We learned that cell phone screens don’t use body heat to detect touch.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Our process is a little strange in this regard. We like different parts of the writing process, and we live in different time zones, so we’re able to sort of write and revise at the same time. Kat writes a fast draft in the morning (on the east coast) and Rosiee comes in to revise it in the afternoon (on the west coast). Each chapter Kat writes gets revised the same day by Rosiee, so we experience this completely differently. Kat waits until we’re totally done, and Rosiee revises as we go. It’s a little weird, but it works for us!
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Kat: I love really nice chocolates from the local shop that handmakes them.
Rosiee: I am an absolute fiend for fresh fruit. I grow blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and figs in my backyard, and I do a ton of u-pick during the summer so I can freeze berries and have them all year round.
Describe your writing space/office!
Kat: I’m lucky enough to have space for a home office, which I’ve painted a lovely teal and decorated with my large collection of art prints. My desk is set up as ergonomically as possible, with a split keyboard (a game changer if you’re typing all day!) and a chair with good lumbar support. Best of all, my desk is beside a big window that lets in lots of light, and lets me stare at the trees–and watch for any sign the neighbors might have committed a murder I can solve.
Rosiee: I also have a home office. I made the leap to writing full time from a work from home job, so it was an easy transition in terms of space. My office is adorned with floating bookshelves my best friends built for me while I was dealing with some medical issues, a lot of half burned candles, and a cat tree my pets never use.
Who is an author you admire?
Kat: There are so many I admire (including Rosiee!), but one who comes to mind is Martha Wells. The Murderbot Diaries is a masterclass in world building and unreliable narration, and the extremely relatable main character and queernormative universe makes it my favorite sci-fi series.
Rosiee: I’ve recently become absolutely enamored with the writing style of K. Ancrum. She has this simultaneously sparse prose and rich storytelling that makes you absolutely ache with emotion. Her books have this addictive quality that makes you need to turn the page, and I’ve found myself accidentally reading her books late into the night on multiple occasions.
Is there a book that changed your life?
Kat: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. My dad read it to us kids when I was four years old (don’t worry, he skipped the swears, and the dinosaur mayhem delighted rather than terrified me). It’s the book that made me fall in love with speculative fiction and storytelling.
Rosiee: For me, it was Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. I read it immediately after quitting my day job when I was suffering from extreme burnout and struggling with productivity culture. It rewired my brain in such an important way at a time when I desperately needed to be softly held by fiction and told I was enough.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Ours wasn’t a call so much as a series of emails. When this book went out to editors, we expected the usual months-long wait before hearing back, if at all. But in three days we had editors interested. You’d think that would’ve been cause for celebration, but in publishing, everything takes a really long time. We didn’t accept a formal offer for a month and a half, during which Rosiee read every book they could get their hands on and Kat played maybe an embarrassing amount of Stardew Valley.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Kat: This is an unfair question which I refuse to answer. Okay, if I have to pick, it’s science fiction, but fantasy, mystery, and romance are all tied for a close second.
Rosiee: I’m also a bit of a genre anarchist. Lately, I’ve been feeling really drawn to horror and westerns for some reason. I don’t write either of those genres, which might be why they feel so exciting to me!
What’s your favorite movie?
Kat: Jurassic Park, surprising no one
Rosiee: Honor Among Thieves, the D&D movie! I absolutely love a heist.
What is your favorite season?
Kat: Fall! The leaves, the crisp air, the spookiness of it all.
Rosiee: Totally agreed! Fall is the best. I love watching the leaves change color, and I feel I am at my comfiest when wearing a giant sweater.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Kat: I’m an introvert, so I like to have a good dinner with friends and then eat an unwise amount of cake.
Rosiee: I’m not a big birthday person, so I often forget about it, but when I remember I like to go out for sushi.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Kat: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones if you’re in the mood for a riveting horror novel, Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy if you want a cozy fantasy with a fantastic slow burn romance.
Rosiee: If I could make everyone who reads this interview pick up one new thing, it would be the book Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland. It’s a nonstop fun high-seas adventure with the most gremlin little guy main character and a plot relevant cake baking competition. What’s not to love?
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Kat: I can’t pick a favorite! I just love good food, even if it’s lowbrow.
Rosiee: I also love food quite broadly. My tastes run the gamut from fancy sushi to homemade potato latkes, and I’m not ashamed to say that I’ll absolutely devour a deeply shitty pizza.
What do you do when you have free time?
Kat: I’m a voracious reader, and I love gaming (video, tabletop RPG, board). I’m also a huge fan of sitting on my balcony while drinking a cold beverage and watching birds flit around the trees.
Rosiee: My main hobbies are gaming, knitting, and gardening. I’m also a big audiobook reader, and I like to listen while I go for my little mental health nature walks.
What can readers expect from you next?
Kat: The second book in the DEAD & BREAKFAST series! As for my solo work, I can’t talk about it yet, but I’ve got some fun projects coming soon.
Rosiee: Besides 2 Dead 2 Breakfast (official title to be revealed), I am also releasing an anthology of aromantic fiction next spring!
DEAD & BREAKFAST by Kat Hillis, Rosiee Thor
The new vampires in town are sinking their teeth into solving a murder…
Married odd couple Arthur and Sal are totally normal. They wear sunscreen, not because the sun can kill them, but because even the undead need a skincare regimen. They eat garlic whenever they want, though it gives Sal indigestion. They can talk to creatures of the night, but only the raccoons that rifle through their garbage. Really, they don’t bite… except into delicious baked goods.
Ready to settle down and stay out of trouble, the two have opened a bed & breakfast in the idyllic, if not-so-paranormal-friendly, town of Trident Falls, Oregon. But trouble finds them when the mayor is discovered dead in their begonias with two puncture wounds in his neck. With the help of a werewolf barista, the elven town coroner, and a very human city manager, Arthur and Sal will need to prove they aren’t literally out for blood by catching a killer…
Mystery Cozy | Mystery Amateur Sleuth [Penguin, On Sale: October 14, 2025, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593952719 / eISBN: 9780593952726]
Buy DEAD & BREAKFAST: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Kat Hillis
Kat Hillis (she/he) is the author of offbeat queer science fiction, fantasy, and cozy mystery that makes readers ask, “What the heck did I just read?”
She earned her BA in English Literature from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. She still lives in Alabama, where she enjoys the two weeks of tolerable weather a year.
When she’s not writing, she’s probably thinking about it or talking about it—she has been described as a jock whose sport is writing. If she’s procrastinating, she can be found drawing, reading, or binge-watching TV shows. A lifelong narrative enthusiast, she enjoys all types of gaming (tabletop RPGs, video games, board games). Her hobbies include getting emotional when she thinks too much about quantum physics, and crafting handmade soap.
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
About Rosiee Thor
Rosiee Thor began their career as a storyteller by demanding to tell their mother bedtime stories instead of the other way around. They spent their childhood reading by flashlight in the closet until they came out as queer. Now, they write stories for all ages, including young adult novels Tarnished Are The Stars and Fire Becomes Her, the picture book The Meaning of Pride, and tie-in novels for franchises like Life is Strange and Firefly. Their short fiction appears in many anthologies, including the Lambda award nominated Being Ace, and they are the editor of Why On Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology. Their debut cozy mystery, The Dead & Breakfast, is forthcoming from Berkley Press. Rosiee lives in Oregon with a dog, two cats, and an abundance of plants.
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