cozy mystery

Behind the story of Fishing for Trouble by Elizabeth Logan Elizabeth Logan is the (current) pen name for Camille Minichino, who is determined to turn every aspect of her life into a mystery series. A retired physicist, she’s the author of 28 mystery novels in 5 series, all with different pen names. Fishing for Trouble is the second book in the Alaskan Diner series.

Under contract, but following her instincts

Camille said she decided to write this series and Fishing for Trouble when she was offered a work-for-hire contract from the publisher that.came with “a bible.” What this means is the publisher determined the major details, i.e., the protagonist is the owner of a diner in Alaska; her name is Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Cooke; her BFF owns an inn down the road; she works with Alaska State Trooper Cody Graham; her chief cook (also the victim in the first book) is Oliver; and more!

This was Camille’s first work-for-hire contract. She said, “The bible specifies so many details that writing it turned out to be not too different from a board game, working around the ‘givens’ to construct a story. I did get to choose her hair color. But not her pet, an orange tabby named Benny, short for Eggs Benedict.”

Camille said the one issue that runs through all her books is feminism. “Not necessarily the banner-carrying kind, though I’ve done my share of that, but the subtle kind that makes sure the protagonist (they’re all female) is strong enough to be self-supporting, both financially and emotionally, that she is as smart as any male counterpart. In earlier books, my agenda was to show women as scientists or mathematicians, a STEM agenda in itself. In my current book, the second in the Alaskan Diner series, she’s a business owner and, of course, a master sleuth!”

Up close and personal

“You need to know these idiosyncrasies only if you plan to spend a week or so with me. I’m not sure it will affect how you approach my books. First, I don’t like maintenance of any kind. This applies to grooming (no makeup or extraneous cosmetics), housework, office work like scheduling and filing, or follow-up chores.

“Second, I’m not much of finisher, which I view as maintenance. The fact that I’ve finished 28 novels and a host of short stories and articles is due entirely to deadlines for my day job and publishers. Otherwise, I’d have to return payroll checks, advances, and royalties.

“Lastly, I want to create and run. If you need highly polished floors, you’re on your own.”

Not a finisher, but up to a challenge

“My biggest challenge with this series was Benny, the cat. Definitely Benny, the cat. Those who know me know I have never nor will I ever have a pet. No dogs, cats, parrots, fish. None. I don’t hate them; I just don’t want to be bothered maintaining a creature that is not human, that is, will never grow up and move out, get a job, and be on his or her own. (See #3, regarding maintenance.)

“Nevertheless, I accepted Benny (again, see #3, this time with respect to advances and royalties) and appealed to my cat-loving friends, whose name, it turns out, is legion. They only too happily showered me with cat stories and photos of cats in different positions, so to speak. I have a binder full of What cats eat or don’t eat, What they sound like, How their tail communicates. One of the cat people even constructed a Pinterest page for Benny.

“What could have been very challenging turned into a great new way to relate to my friends and critique partners.”

Embalming, anyone?

“I have a cousin-once-removed who is married to a freelance embalmer. I know, that’s already funny, but Bobby is also a funny guy. When I was writing the Periodic Table Mysteries, my first series, I wanted to give my retired-physicist protagonist (i.e., me) something to make her likeable. Fun to have lunch with. Give physicists a good name. So, I gave her a pair of best friends who run a mortuary and offer her the apartment above the parlor, two levels above the embalming room.

“Well, you can see where this is going. Bobby became my expert witness as the series went on (The Hydrogen Murder, The Helium Murder, and so on) as he shared his funniest true stories and I turned them into my fiction, changing names to protect the innocent.

“It seems that when a dearly departed is laid out for viewing in a casket, the clothes are cut up in such a way as to make the prep easy. For example, a dress or jacket will be sliced up the back and tucked in the sides of the casket, which is more convenient than trying to ‘dress’ the person.

“One day, one of Bobby’s friends came to visit in the prep room. The guy took off his jacket and hung it on the back of a chair. I’ll leave you to figure out the punch line!”

Dying to learn more about Camille Minichino or Fishing for Trouble? Check out her website at minichino.com. And, if you’d like to see more of my Behind the Story interviews, you can pick and choose here.

Colleen J. Shogan is a political scientist by training. She’s worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative staffer in the United States Senate and as a senior executive at the Library of Congress. In addition to her role as Senior Vice President of the White House Historical Association, she’s also the award-winning author of the Washington Whodunnit series. Larceny at the Library is the sixth book in the series.

Love of libraries

Colleen worked for almost twelve years at the Library of Congress in a variety of different management positions. She said sheI’d always wanted to write a contemporary murder mystery set at the Library. “I’m so excited I was able to do it. My exposure to the collections and incredible staff who work there provided me with the creative ideas for the book, but all characters are fictitious!”

Even though the series is set within the world of politics in Washington, D.C., Colleen doesn’t advocate for policy issues. She did, however, have a goal.

“I wanted to make more people aware of the vast resources available at the Library of Congress. I hope that readers enjoy the mystery, but when they finish the book, they decide they want to visit the Library, either in person or online.”

For this book Colleen said she spent a great deal of time in various rooms of the Library of Congress. “I made notes about the specific architectural or artistic details. I desperately wanted the murder to take place in the Librarian’s Ceremonial Office, an ornate room inside the historic Jefferson Building. I focused on that room for a while before I decided how the murder would occur in the book.”

A series with substance

“I like providing readers with some historical facts and substance in my novels. Yes, there’s also humor and certainly the plot of a whodunit. But I try to incorporate knowledge and information, which distinguishes them from the average cozy mystery.”

Colleen noted that in the research for her fourth book, K Street Killing, forced her to do a little real-life storytelling. “I snuck onto the rooftop terrace of a popular, swanky restaurant that lobbyists frequent. I wanted the murder to take place at that location, but I wasn’t sure it was feasible. I had to tell a white lie to gain access to the area, but it was worth it!”

Learn more about Colleen J. Shogan at www.colleenshogan.com

Tricia L. Sanders writes cozy mysteries and women’s fiction. Death, Diamonds, and Freezer Burn is the second in her Grime Pays mystery series. A former corporate trainer, Tricia has traded in her bullet points for the chance to make things up. She likes to write books in which women control their own destiny.

Death, Diamonds, and Freezer Burn from the headlines

“In Death, Diamonds, and Freezer Burn, Cece is wavering to find solid footing after a failed marriage. Instead of sitting around and feeling sorry for herself, she starts her own business,” Tricia said. “Parts of this story were from a newspaper headline I read a long time ago. I had clipped the headline and filed it away. When I started looking for ideas, I pulled this one out of the folder and it resonated with what Cece might run across in building her new business while doing a favor for an old friend.”

Living life for fun

Tricia said no one knows how many days they have left on this planet, which is why she’s committed to using hers wisely. “I’m having the most fun I can. If that means I have to put something aside to take trip, then I’ll do it.  I love to travel. I love to take photos, and I love to write. Not necessarily in that order. If I can do them at the same time, then I’m the winner.”

She added that the friends she’s made during the process of writing is the most rewarding. “I have at least a dozen or so very good friends who are writers and many, many more who have touched my life in some way or another, and the thing they all have in common is that I would not have met them had it not been for writing this book.

“I also write about friendships in my book and explore the friendship of longtime friends, like Cece and Angie, and friends we’ve grown distant from, but who still fill our hearts with good memories like Carla.  And there’s also the new friendships that bloom when unlikely women share a common goal which eventually leads to friendship—like Cece and Nancy. There’s also some one-sided male/female relationships in the book like Cece and Grant Hunter. She’s attracted to him as a friend, but he is obviously looking for a deeper connection.”

One of the things Tricia did for fun, but has now decided must make its way into a future book was riding in a hot air balloon. “I will definitely use that experience in a story. I look forward to Cece and Detective Alder taking a hot air balloon ride. I’m sure there will be a blip though, and it won’t all be fun and games.”

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