interview

Jodi Rath has a passion for both mysteries and education which has led her to combine the two. She now he splits her time between working as an adjunct for Ohio teachers and creating mischief in her fictional writing. As a high school English teacher, she used fiction and non-fiction to focus on themes and central ideas. When it came time to write a mystery series, Jodi decided to use the 70-year-old cast-iron skillet in which her grandmother only made Pineapple Upside Down Cake for her grandfather as a starting point for the series name.

Starting with a theme

“When I taught, I used universal themes to connect students to things in their lives. For instance, my best friend has MS. I taught many LGBTQ homeless students. I’ve seen urban sprawl and gentrification first-hand and how it has affected my students. I’ve worked for the Fairfield County Disabilities Association. So, every theme has directly affected my life in one way or another.

“The series has fourteen books in it with overarching themes of urban sprawl, gentrification, LGBTQ homeless youth, and MS awareness. Actually, starting with the holiday book, Turkey Basted to Death, I began collaborating and contracting with The MS Society and True Colors United. I donate a percentage of my profits monthly to those charities.”

Jodi said she incorporates as much diversity in the series as possible. “It’s extremely important to me to reflect my teaching philosophy of twenty years in my writing. Many of my previous students read my series and stay in touch with me. Sometimes I wonder if using so many real-issue themes is not a good thing for cozies but so far, the series has done really well, which makes me happy that readers are embracing it.”

The importance of readers and their stories

“As I continue to write the series, my monthly newsletter subscribers have increased to close to 8,000 subscribers and my social media following has grown to 22,000 followers. I work to regularly communicate personally with all my readers. One of the things I love the most about my readers is their willingness to share very personal stories with me about the themes in my books to help me with research. I have spoken to some on the phone, through texting, emailing, or DM and messaging. It is my most favorite part of writing the series is doing research from readers’ personal stories that they are willing to trust me with to use. So, many of the vignettes/scenes you read in the books are taken from a reader’s personal story. I’ll say to your blog readers, if any of you would like to share with me, please email me at jrath@columbus.rr.com or subscribe to my monthly newsletter or find me on social media and message or DM me. I love chatting with all readers.”

Staying centered

“My philosophy of life, in teaching, and in my writing are all interweaved into a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, ‘To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the GREATEST accomplishment.’ I’ve used that quote to springboard many lessons in teaching and with book themes and conversations. While it promotes being yourself, an individual, and unique, I also like to connect it to tolerance and open-mindedness. People can only be a true individual when they learn to accept and love themselves and not feel a need to please others.”

Jodi said she used this philosophy to teach her students to be open-minded and willing to agree to disagree with others while being tolerant of their thoughts and motives. “This is something I worked to teach each one of my students and the main message I strive for in this series as well. This is the way I attempt to live my life daily. Of course, I fail a lot, but I work to reflect and correct as I fail.”

Difficult times and a new resource

Jodi wrote Blueberry Cobbler Blackmail when my mother-in-law, aged 97, fell and broke her hip, then passed away. “It was also during the holiday madness season. Then, I got pneumonia that I had for nearly a month. All of those things proved to be a huge challenge for me in staying on deadline.”

There was, however, good news on the horizon. Jodi’s husband retired in August 2019, and he’s turned into a very helpful research assistant. His work began with learning the Merangue. “I was running way behind with everything that was happening. We had to research and watch several videos about professionals dancing the Merengue, then watch bad examples of the Merengue dance. Then, we had to practice the dance ourselves in order to properly write a hilarious scene in this next book. That was probably the MOST fun I’ve had to date with research!”

Jodi said that learning the Merengue from scratch with her husband rates high on her list of favorite research activities. The fact that she has only a two-minute drive to her local is also very helpful. “I have HUGE stacks of books for research because I’m a full-time writer. I write more than just the culinary cozy mystery series—I also write educational blogs and for educational affiliations and publishers. I’m working with educators around the world with a publisher in CA on a teen series that ties directly into art, and all content areas.”

Jodi says she’s in her local library checking out everything from children’s books to subjects like poison, autopsies, and mental disorders. “My librarians SWEAR I’m on an FBI list somewhere and they say if they didn’t know me personally, they would be terrified of me based on the books and topics I check out!”

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Kate Parker grew up reading her mother’s collection of mystery books and her father’s library of history and biography books. Now she can’t write a story that isn’t set in the past with a few decent corpses littered about.

Tragedy behind the story

One of the issues Kate addresses in Murder at the Marlowe Club is cocaine usage. She noted that, in the story’s time period, cocaine usage was legal, but had fallen out of favor. In fact, a few years prior to the story’s time period cocaine was an ingredient in Coca Cola.

“Cocaine was considered a stimulant much like caffeine, and the effects of addiction were not recognized,” Kate said. “Compare that to today’s war on drugs led by the CDC, where doctors are being told how much morphine they can prescribe to their patients.”

In fact, Kate had firsthand experience with today’s restrictions. Her husband was exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Not only had he been forced into a medical retirement due to severe pain that had spread throughout his body, but he also had congestive heart failure.

“My husband had been treated successfully for the pain for nearly fifteen years with morphine, which he described as a constant full body toothache every minute of every day. Nerve transplants were ruled out early on. Morphine made possible a quality of life he couldn’t have without some kind of heavy duty pain relief. And then the CDC told his doctors he couldn’t have morphine any more because other doctors were giving it to patients who didn’t have debilitating pain. They began to wean him off pain medication very slowly, but once they got below a certain level, my husband was in constant pain. As they continued to lower his dosage, we made plans to move to another state, Colorado, where pain management doctors have been doing work with everything from acupuncture to lasers and sonar.

“Unfortunately, my husband’s weakened heart gave out a week before we moved in search of relief for his pain. Relief that wouldn’t be removed by the federal government. I understand the CDC’s desire to stop indiscriminate use of narcotics. I don’t understand a one size fits all approach to a disease they don’t understand. I believe he died from the strain of the pain.

“So I wanted to explore a time when narcotics were still legal. I found that since none of my characters suffered from a disease like my husband’s, a lot of my characters spoke out against cocaine usage. I hadn’t expected that, but this position makes sense for the characters in my story.”

Making up stories—a job she loves

Kate said, “The opening scene in Murder at the Marlowe Club, with the rain and the early morning chill, with the scantily clad body lying dead in the gazebo, came to me with such clarity that the book grew from that moment. I love making up stories, and I love sharing them. That’s why I write, to give enjoyment to others. I made up the Gates family because I love stories about capers and con men, and the very proper Emily was created as the scandalized member of the family who wants nothing to do with their way of life. I had so much fun with this large, loving family that I named them after a coworker who has enthusiastically encouraged my writing from the beginning. I’m not sure he was honored to give his name to a bunch of crooks, but he didn’t mind. ”

Kate’s travels

“The most enjoyable thing I do when I’m researching is spending time in the British Library reading old newspapers from that time. Perhaps it’s because I’m the daughter of a newspaperman, but I can submerge myself in the times by reading the newspapers, particularly the advertisements. I can tell from them what was important to people, how they lived, and when fashions changed.

“Once, I was sitting in a church in Bern, Switzerland with my daughter. We were enjoying the quiet in this beautiful setting when a man in a trench coat walked hesitantly down the aisle. As he passed our pew, I could see the knife sticking out of his back. I told my daughter about the knife, who said, ‘Wow. Now I know why you write what you do.’”

Learn more about Kate Parker at kateparkerbooks.com.

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Christin Brecher spent many years working in marketing and publishing. While she was born and raised in New York City, she considers herself very much a small-town girl. Murder Makes Scents is her second book in the Nantucket Candle Maker Mystery series.

The cafe influence

“When I was starting the book, I brought my computer to a small café on Nantucket,”Christin said. “I realized I was surrounded by people from all over the world who were speaking many different languages. As Stella herself points out during the story, it is amazing how international the tiny island has become. I liked the idea of how global intrigue might find its way to a small island, one which is mostly known today for its shingled houses and beautiful beaches.”

Christin added that Stella jumps out of a plane at the end of the book. “For me, the book couldn’t have existed without that crazy scene. I grew up having heard a story that the airport on Nantucket was built on the foggiest side of the island so that pilots could practice taking off and landing during World War II. The story stuck with me. I couldn’t imagine Stella jumping in to (or out of) a spy story without it.”

Low tech can be the best solution

“At the beginning of Murder Makes Scents, an international spy tells Stella that ‘in a high-tech world, sometimes old-fashioned methods are the most unexpected way to go.’ I like the idea that a low-tech solution—something as simple as a scented candle—could be a defensive measure in our complicated world. Stella is the perfect sleuth to execute such a challenge. She’s a small-town girl with guts and a talent for solving puzzles who stands up to dangerous criminals to protect international secrets and solve a murder. Stella leans in to family and friends and never falls apart, all while juggling a business, a high-maintenance mother, and a somewhat confusing love life. She’s a true hero!”

On the personal side

“What I love most about cozy mysteries is how unexpectedly radical they can be,” Christin said. “Especially those with female protagonists, of which there are many. The covers are charming, the titles have puns, and the sleuths are amateurs. Seems fairly safe, right? Not so. Once you delve into the pages, you meet women who use their everyday talents to make sure that justice is served. And they do so while maintaining relationships, jobs and their own sense of self. I love that a book with a cat and a craft can remind us that we can all make a difference if we are willing to step up. I find that uplifting.”

Christin wrote Murder Makes Scents as a cozy mystery wrapped in action-adventure theme. Nantucket is filled with gorgeous bogs, wetlands, marshes and coastal ponds, all of which can become very foggy at night.

“I loved the idea of Stella racing across its landscape, in search of answers and away from those who might thwart her quest. One of my favorite Stella moments in the book occurs right after she begins her mission to find a stolen formula that, if found, might put world peace at risk. She says, ‘… I pulled from my bag a leftover Gauloise cigarette from the pack my mom and I had used for effect at Parisian cafes. I stuck it in my mouth, and let it roll across my lips… I turned on my heels to my car. I felt dressed for a high-speed drive, but instead I had my small red Beetle, which I had to drive at a careful pace.’”

Breaking-and-entering, writer style

“I had a wonderful moment in writing the book when my father and I snuck on to a golf course at night, just as Stella does. While I looked across the grounds to get a sense of how Stella would feel and what she would see, a huge beam of light suddenly flashed at us from the Sankaty Head lighthouse. I’d had no idea that the light reached as far as the course until our site visit. Right then and there, I knew I had to incorporate this beacon into my story.

“My dad also accompanied me to the Nantucket Cranberry festival where I had more than my fair share of chocolate covered cranberries! Because I have a scene in the book at the festival, I decided to put a cranberry pie recipe at the end of the novel. After meeting many Nantucketers who are incredible bakers, I found a generations-old, well-loved, and delicious recipe to use. Over Christmas, the owner sent the original to me as a surprise. I’m not worthy!!”

Learn more about Christin Brecher at christinbrecher.com.

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