1.     What drew you to writing cozy mysteries? What inspired you to write the Bibliophile mysteries?

I’ve always loved to read mystery series, where you really get to know the characters. After the first book, they feel like friends, so it’s a reunion and a celebration when the next book in the series comes out. I love that the culprit is always caught, I love the humor in the genre and the fact that the violence is not the sort of gore you get in thriller novels.

 My tagline is “Smart. Funny. Murder.” and I think that really captures the feeling I so love when reading – and writing – cozy mysteries.

 As for what inspired me to write the Bibliophile Mysteries, book binding has been a hobby of mine for many years.  I try to take at least a couple of classes in book arts every year. The process of restoring well-loved books has always fascinated me. I wanted to write a book series that centered around books in a different way than any other author had done. And so Brooklyn Wainwright, world-class bookbinder, came to be.

 In each Bibliophile Mystery, Brooklyn is asked to restore a different rare book. She can bring any book back to life. Sadly, she doesn’t have the same power to revive the murder victims she finds. Somehow, their death is linked to the book she’s restoring, and Brooklyn is doggedly determined to bring the killer to justice.

 2.     Do you have a favorite character in your series? A character that is fun to write?

I adore so many of the characters, it’s hard to choose just one! I love writing Derek Stone, Brooklyn’s love interest. Derek is a British security expert – like James Bond, but without the license to kill and without the fear of commitment. He’s smooth, sexy, and he has an edge of danger that I personally find irresistible. So does Brooklyn!

 I also love writing Brooklyn’s parents. Jim and Becky Wainwright followed the Grateful Dead on tour for years and named their six kids after the place each was conceived. When they got off the road, they raised their kids on a wine country commune. Through hard work and smarts, they helped the commune thrive, so that now all its members have beautiful homes and plenty of cash.

 In A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY, the character I really enjoyed getting to know better was Brooklyn’s sister Savannah. Savannah is a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef who specializes in vegetarian cuisine with gourmet flair. When Savannah is discovered over her ex-boyfriend’s dead body with a bloody knife in her hand, Brooklyn knows instantly that she must prove her sister’s innocence. But it won’t be easy – there are so many people with a grudge against the obnoxious celebrity chef, that Brooklyn will have a tough time figuring out which one took that final, irreversible step. All she knows is that it wasn’t her sister.

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