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Today, I’m featuring an interview with the sister writing team of Loretta and Sarah Johns, authors of the Starlight Cozy Mystery series. I’m fascinated by writing teams, whether they be friends, spouses, or siblings. It must be neat to someone to bounce your ideas off of and share the writing journey with. And I can tell that this particular writing team has a lot of fun working together.

Grab a beverage and a snack, sit back, and read what Loretta and Sarah have to say about cozy mysteries, penguins, and cookies.

1 – What’s your favorite thing about cozy mysteries?

BOTH: The characters are usually witty and engaging and it reminds us of the good old days watching Father Dowling, Murder She Wrote, Magnum PI, Diagnosis Murder, and Quincy.

2 – What inspired you to write a cozy mystery series together?

LORETTA: it all started with a series we are working on, following two sisters on a road trip.

SARAH: There’s a large time difference between where we currently live, so we both had too much wine and we ended up talking about MagnumPI, helicopters, and looking at property on Zillow in Hawaii.

LORETTA: Yup, then I said, yeah, we should totally write a mystery, only with an alien and it should be funny. Then we started laughing and came up with a few plots. We also became quite serious and ended up planning a semi-retirement move to Hawaii. We were raised apart and met again as adults,  then life got in the way and we ended up separated by an entire ocean for 20 years. So we’re together over the web now and working towards being together again in RL, writing books and sitting on the beach.

3 – Tell us what it’s like to work as a writing team – how do you collaborate and create your stories?

SARAH: We get on Facebook Messenger and plot while drinking while drinking coffee, tea, or wine, or in Loretta’s case, a tropical themed cocktail. Loretta then starts typing it all up, dialogue and all, then pops it into GoogleDocs. I then go on in and add or subtract stuff and clean up any mistakes I find.

4 – What’s more important – character or plot?

LORETTA: The characters spawn the plots for us. It’s not an either or. It’s here’s this person and look at the trouble they get in…

5 – What do you like best about being an author? What do you like the least?

Best

SARAH: I get to play with my sister as we craft these books. It’s very healing energy as we get to play pretend with each other and invite people into our joint world.We didn’t get to do that as children so it’s even more special now.

LORETTA: And the money goes towards reuniting us once more and continuing the grand adventure.

Least

BOTH: Edits and Amazon hanging while publishing the releases and as of late the issues with pre-order errors on their part.

6 – What’s your favorite cookie? If you don’t like cookies, what’s wrong with you? Oops, sorry, scratch that. My follow-up question was meant to be far more polite – “Why don’t you like cookies?”

BOTH: Chocolate chip and traditional Oreos

7 – A penguin walks through your front door wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why did he come visit you?

LORETTA:  “Hi, I’ve come down for the shave ice from the stand.” We tell him he’s in the wrong reality and get back into The Dade Sisters Book 3.

SARAH: He needs to be careful. Pele’s son makes great shave ice but she’s not too happy when you use the reality jumping portals, especially if you took a rock to do it.

8 – What else would you like us to know about the two of you?

LORETTA: We both love adventure and have lived in different countries and states. I grew up an Army Brat and then served myself, then married a Brit, while Sarah finished her Master’s degree in Canada (she now works helping veterans access benefits at her day job). We also love animals and own dogs and cats.

SARAH: Yep, our two favorite titles (other than author) Mom, including Furbaby Mom,and Nana.

LORETTA: I’m Obaa-chan, not Nana. But yes. ::laughs:: I also treasure being Tia.

SARAH: And we both love sarcastic humor. Our husbands are always amazed at how much we look and act alike despite not growing up together. We even chose the same hair style and glasses right before we found each other again.

LORETTA: Yup. Watch out, Hawaii, we’re coming. Soon, my precious. ::wanders off to look at Zillow’s Big Island listings again::

Get Loretta & Sarah’s Books

Pick up your own copy of the first Starlight Cozy Mystery – A Saucerful of Death – on Amazon.

About Loretta & Sarah

Hi! I’m Loretta, a housewife with her head usually in the clouds, dreaming of romance and far away places. One day, I thought, why not write them down? So here we are. I hope you enjoy hot men, gutsy women, and happily ever afters because that’s what you’ll get from me.

Aloha! I’m Sarah, Loretta’s younger and equally as zany sister. I spend far too much time on Messenger cooking up these crazy stories with my sister, coffee in hand. Drink Kona!

Connect with Loretta & Sarah

Follow Loretta on Amazon, both of the sisters on Facebook and Twitter, and sign-up for their newsletter to find out about new releases, sales, and other stuff like that.

Thanks so much for being on the blog, ladies! I’m glad to see that you have excellent taste in cookies. You can’t go wrong with Oreos and chocolate chip. It would be a blast to catch up with the two of you one day sipping Kona coffee on a beach in Hawaii.

This is the part of series of interviews with writers who are new to cozy mysteries. Some of them are established authors who have published in other genres. Others are in the throes of writing their very first book and planning its publication. It takes me right back to the start of my own writer’s journey before I hit the scary “publish” button with my first cozy.

Today, I have an interview with Adriana Licio, an Italian author who is getting ready to launch her first cozy mystery series—The Italian Village Mysteries. One look at the cover of the prequel to the series—And Then There Were Bones—made me want to drop everything, hop on a plane, and travel to Italy. Minus any dead bodies of course. By the way, if you want your own FREE copy of Adriana’s prequel, you can find all the details below.

So grab yourself a beverage and a snack, settle in, and find out more about what she has to say about writing, penguins, and cookies.

1 – What inspired / motivated you to write cozy mysteries?

On my bookshelves, beside classics and travel literature, you’ll mostly find mysteries —Christies and cosies in particular. In fact, there are so many things in the genre that appeal to me—a good mystery with little violence, no gore, a glimpse into a community’s way of life,
quirky characters, and… gossip! I love a happy ending, and I don’t like cynicism of any kind. I adore heartwarming stories, exploring the problems we all experience in daily life with a healthy dose of humor, since I’m a firm believer in the power of a good laugh. In what other genre can you find all the above?

2 – What’s your favorite thing about cozy mysteries?

The community aspect – the fact that beyond the mystery, there’s a whole village or town with its army of characters. Reading a good cozy mystery, you learn about a place, its culture, habits, food, so the mystery, which has to be intriguing with a few good twists, never occurs in a vacuum.

3 – What stage are you at in your writing and publishing journey?

I’ve just launched my website, and it’s a very exciting moment since I will connect with my readers for the first time. On subscription, readers will receive a free e-copy of And Then There Were Bones, a homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and the prequel to my An Italian Village Mystery series. It’ll be the first time readers in general will get the chance to read a book of mine, which is both exciting and scary. So far, people who’ve read the book have been generous with their enthusiastic comments and encouragement, mostly asking me when the series will be out, which is a good sign.

In the autumn, my first two full-length mysteries will be available on Amazon. My editor is currently checking through book one, Murder on the Road, one more time before it goes to my proofreader. I’ve already written book two, A Fair Time for Death, and put it through its first round of editing. It’s now taking a rest, before the serious business of self-editing and professional editing starts in earnest.

4 – What are you most excited about in terms of publishing your first cozy? What are you nervous about?

The idea that people in a small town in the United States, or in remote parts of Australia or India or New Zealand might turn the pages of my books is simply exhilarating. That’s the reason why I accepted the challenge to write in English and not in Italian, my native tongue. English is a global language; it’s a doorway to the world. And we’re lucky to live in times where publishing our own work as indie authors is possible.

I love and fear technology at the same time. What if I don’t manage to upload my book to Amazon properly on launch day? I’m sweating, beating my fists frantically on my PC, then the whole thing explodes…

But hey, I’m in my bed! It was just a bad dream.

5 – Tell us about the cozy mystery you’re currently working on. What’s your sleuth like? Where is it set? Do you have a hook?

My heroine is feisty travel writer Giò Brando. At the age of 38, she comes back to her hometown in Southern Italy, devastated after breaking up with her fiancé just 30 days before their wedding was due to take place. Hoping for peace, quiet and family life, she stumbles on to… a corpse!

Apparently, a falling rock killed a woman as she parked her car. But, was this tragic accident really an accident? And was the woman, PA for a powerful local man, the intended victim?

The setting is Maratea, a quaint little village on the Mediterranean coast, which is a real place I visit every time I need peace of mind. Its spectacular wild beauty, with vertical rock walls plunging into the waters below, never fails to remind me that life is far more than the daily rush or occasional grump.

Tapping into her adventurous nature, Giò looks for clues among the gossips that abound in this quirky Italian village, her quest for the truth regularly taking her into the local cafes and bars, and her sister Agnese’s perfumery. Here, customers come and go with their unique problems and pains, some touching, others laugh-out-loud funny, knowing that Agnese will advise them on the right perfume to use at the perfect time. Not easy, maybe, but still much easier than keeping her impetuous sister Giò from nosing around and putting herself into real danger…

6 – What’s your favorite cookie? If you don’t like cookies, what’s wrong with you? Oops, sorry, scratch that. My follow-up question was meant to be far more polite – “Why don’t you like cookies?”

It’s not exactly a cookie, more of a pastry called bocconotto and it’s a specialty of Maratea. You can try them in a local shop where the fragrant treat is served hot, straight from the oven. There’s a whole range of fillings to choose from – I prefer the sour cherry version, but I’m guessing Mollie would lead you straight over to the chocolate one.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Mollie she’s referring to is the main character in my cozy mystery series and she does have a serious obsession with chocolate. I do too. I wonder where she got it from?

7 – A penguin walks through your front door wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why did he come visit you?

The poor wee one is wearing a sombrero to protect himself from the summer heat of Maratea. But what is he holding in his hands? It’s a Nativity scene musical box, and he’s here to remind me that I need to go to Christmas Land and finish that novel of mine.

Where had I got to in the story? Well, there’s an old Irish tune being played in an ancient Christmas crib; a lonely mother and daughter landing in Maratea; books disappearing from the local library only to reappear a few days later; and Giò trying to make sense of it all. Have you got all that? No? I’d better don my mittens and scarf, ready to follow the penguin, then.

Oh, hold on a minute, Ellen has one more question for me. Of course, I’ll answer that before I go. What did you want to ask, Ellen?

8 – What else would you like people to know about you?

I’m never too good at talking about myself, despite being a writer. Such a shame, I know. But I’d love to invite readers who like cozy mysteries in stunningly beautiful settings to come over and get to know my corner of Southern Italy through my free e-novella, And Then There Were Bones. And then let me know their frank opinion of it! It’s an exclusive gift on subscription to my newsletter – the terrific Maratea Murder Club.

[Adriana waves farewell to Ellen and her readers and follows the impatient penguin to Christmas Land. Bye-bye, summer.]

About Adriana

Adriana, who lives in Southern Italy, is the author of the upcoming series An Italian Village Mystery. She resisted writing as long as she could, but one day she found an alluring blank page and the words flowed in the weird English she’d learned in Glasgow.

She loves loads of things: traveling, reading, walking, good food, small villages, and home swapping. She runs her family perfumery, and between a dark patchouli and a musky rose, she devours cozy mysteries. Adriana finds peace for her restless, enthusiastic soul only when walking in nature with her golden retriever Frodo and her hubby Giovanni.

You can find out more about Adriana on her website: adrianalicio.com or follow her on Facebook and Twitter. In addition, you can download your free e-book And Then There Were Bones, chat about cozies, and receive a map of Maratea and Giò’s photo album of her favorite places by subscribing to her newsletter at: www.adrianalicio.com/murderclub

Thank you so much for being on the blog today, Adriana! Your new series sounds wonderful. And I can’t wait to get to Italy soon and try one of those cookies.

This is the part of series of interviews with writers who are new to cozy mysteries. Some of them are established authors who have published in other genres. Others are in the throes of writing their very first book and planning its publication. It takes me right back to the start of my own writer’s journey before I hit the scary “publish” button with my first cozy.

Today, I have an interview with V.L. McBeath who is launching her first cozy series—Eliza Thomson Investigates. Grab a drink and a snack, sit back, and read what V.L. has to say about writing, penguins and cookies.

1 – What genres have you previously published in? What inspired you to start writing cozies?

My first foray into publishing was with a historical family saga set in Victorian-era, England.

The thing was, when I started writing I had no intention of being a published author, it just sort of happened. The work was a passion project based on several years’ research into my family history. It turned out that my ancestors had quite a story to tell and I ended up writing a five-book series with a short story prequel, (The Ambition & Destiny Series).

From start to finish, the project took the best part of eight years to complete and once I’d published the final book, I was left with a feeling of ‘what now’.

Writing had become a way of life, but because I’d exhausted my family research (for the time being at least), I turned to a genre I had always loved. Murder mysteries.

Because my first series had been historical, and because I wanted to write ‘whodunit’ types stories (of a similar nature to Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple books) historical cozy mysteries seemed to be the way to go. The main difference though is that my amateur sleuth, Eliza Thomson, is anything but a passive little old lady. I don’t think I’m capable of writing such characters, and so Eliza is very progressive given that the books are set at the beginning of the twentieth century.

2 – What’s your favorite thing about cozy mysteries?

As I mentioned, I love whodunit types of mysteries, but I also like the more light-hearted, feel-good, nature of cozy mysteries. After writing about life in the Victorian-era with all the challenges that entailed, being able to switch gears and write something with an element of humour, as well having all the twists and turns of the plot, has been great fun.

3 – Do you have any writing rituals?

I don’t have rituals as such, but I’m not a great one for change!

When I started writing, I had a full-time, office-based job, which meant I did all my writing of an evening.

I now have more flexibility with my working hours, but I still find I am most comfortable writing in the evening (usually between about 9pm and midnight).

I go to the gym every weekday morning – because I need to do something, and then I use the afternoon to do admin / marketing or other such things. I do still work part time and so that has to fit into the afternoons as well.

4 – What’s more important – character or plot?

Character. When I wrote my first series, I was struck with how readers identified with the characters in the books and so when I came to write the Eliza Thomson Investigates series, I knew I needed Eliza to be someone readers would remember, and hopefully like.

5 – What do you like best about being an author? What do you like the least?

I love being able to go off into my own little world and back to a time when things seemed so much easier, especially given that everything seems to be in so much chaos nowadays.

I also particularly like writing murder mysteries because if anyone upsets me, I can always get my revenge by using them as the inspiration for my next plot!

What don’t I like? The hardest part is actually sitting down to write – especially when I’m stuck on a plot point. I can procrastinate for hours!

6 – What’s your favorite cookie? If you don’t like cookies, what’s wrong with you? Oops, sorry, scratch that. My follow-up question was meant to be far more polite – “Why don’t you like cookies?” 

Hmm – cookies. I wouldn’t say I don’t like them, but I rarely eat them.

Maybe it’s because in the UK they don’t seem to be as prominent as in the US?

Or maybe it’s because I try to avoid buying sweet things? Eating cookies and sitting at a computer all day really would have me growing about 3 dress sizes!

Not that I’m totally angelic. Occasionally I will have one – and it will always be a white one with milk chocolate chips. Other than the double chocolate chip (which I’m less keen on) I don’t think I’ve tried any other varieties!

7 – A penguin walks through your front door wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why did he come visit you?

Penguin – “Have you seen the weather out there? It’s pouring down.”

Me – “I thought you liked it wet.”

Penguin – “I like water I can dive into, not when it’s falling from the sky!”

Me – “It’s a good job you have your hat, then.”

Penguin – “Are you kidding me? The water’s soaking straight through.”

Me – “What do you expect? It’s a sun hat, not a rain hat. Have you learned nothing while you’ve been in the UK?”

Penguin – “I’ve learned that I like snow better than rain. The guys are coming to pick me up shortly. We’re going back to Antarctica.”

Me – “Oh no … and at such short notice. I’ll miss you!”

Enter three more penguins.

Penguin – “You will? Do you have any more fish, then? That would delay us.”

Me – “Did you leave any in the fridge after breakfast?”

Penguin – “Leave fish? Do you know who you’re talking too!”

Me – “All right, I know, silly question. So, is that it? You’re just going to walk out of here?”

Penguin – “Well we can hardly fly, can we? Although perhaps it’s something we should work on. It would save us a fortune on air fares.”

8 – What else would you like us to know about you?

I can’t claim to be very exciting, but I’m married to Stuart and have two grown-up daughters and a lovely Burmese cat, called Lia.

I spent most of my career working for the pharmaceutical industry and still work as a consultant on an ad-hoc basis.

I’m originally from Liverpool, and so I’m a big fan of Liverpool Football Club (soccer if you’re reading this in the US).

My other passion is music. Unless I’m watching the TV (which might be for about an hour a day) or sleeping (considerably longer, although maybe not for long enough), I have the radio on ALL the time. I love rock music and can’t bear to be in a quiet room.

Get V.L. McBeath’s Books

A Deadly Tonic and Murder in Moreton—Books 1 and 2 of the Eliza Thomson Investigates series—are currently available for preorder on Amazon at the introductory price of 99c / 99p.

A Deadly Tonic will be available to buy from 22nd June, but is also available as a FREE download to anyone who joins V.L.’s mailing list.

Connect with V.L. McBeath

You can connect with V.L. at Facebook | Amazon | BookBub | Website

Thank you so much for being on the blog, V.L.! Your cat is absolutely gorgeous and your new cozy series sounds great. I love the idea of a progressive amateur sleuth in the early 20th century. I hope your penguin friend made it back to Antarctic safe and sound.