Greetings, Noters!
National Novel Writing Month is more than halfway over—eek! I am making great progress on the next Book Blogger Mystery, and my hope is that I’ll soon be ready to send Winnie’s next adventure to my editor for review. Because the book takes place at Christmas, I am really pushing to get this out to you all before the holidays. I was so pleased by the results of my “rapid-fire” release of Over My Dead Blog, that I don’t see the point in making readers wait longer than they have to. The perks of publishing indie!
For my special guest this week, I’m delighted to welcome back a dear friend from the cozy mystery community.
Without further ado…
A Bit About the Author: Rosalie Spielman is a mother, veteran, and retired military spouse. She was thrilled to discover that she could make other people laugh with her writing and finds joy in giving people a humorous escape from the real world. She writes for the multi-author Aloha Lagoon mystery series and her own Hometown Mystery series. She currently lives in Maryland with her husband in a rapidly emptying nest. Rosalie strives to provide you a cozy escape...one page at a time.
For more information on her books or to subscribe to her newsletter, go to www.rosalie-spielman-author.com, follow her Facebook page (Rosalie Spielman author), join her Facebook readers group (“You Know The Spiel”), or Instagram (@Rosalie.Spielman). Rosalie also has an affiliate storefront on Bookshop.org, where you can support small brick-and-mortar bookstores with each purchase: https://bookshop.org/shop/YouKnowTheSpiel.
Rosalie, it’s so wonderful to have you back on Noteworthy celebrating another one of your Hometown Mysteries! It will be great to catch up and see what’s new with Tessa Treslow. To get things started, what book do you find yourself recommending to people these days?
Besides my own? 😉 For cozy mystery readers, I have recently enjoyed the Ice Cream Shop series by Meri Allen and the Cheese Shop series by Korina Moss. Both just keep getting better with each book! For less cozy reads, I read The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and was blown away by the plotting skill.
How did your love of reading evolve into a love of writing? How did you begin your writing journey?
I started writing simply to get the stories out of my head, which makes me sound a wee bit crazy! I’ve grown to love the process – minus those muddy middle moments when I’m stuck between my plotting road signs.
Murder Comes Home is the third book in your Hometown Mysteries. How was your writing experience with Tessa’s third adventure? Did you encounter any challenges along the way?
I did have a hard time getting started with its writing. There were horrific murders in Moscow this time last year that threw me off for several months. It was hard to write about murder in my hometown when there was actually murder in my hometown. A month or two passed, and I spoke with a wise woman, who told me to reframe how I was looking at it – I wasn’t writing about murder, I was writing about solving a murder and that murderer being brought to justice. Once I changed that, I was slowly able to get started. I did make a point of not murdering the victim in a bloody way, though.
Thank you for sharing that with us. And thank goodness there was a wise woman to give you such great advice! What is Army retiree Tessa Treslow up to in Murder Comes Home?
She and Aunt Edna are hosting some antiques “pickers” in hopes of providing extra capital to their new business, BOSS, or Band of Sisters Services, tagline: Call the She-canics. She and her beau, Nick Hunt, are still “on” and growing closer.
The book features a reality TV show, Picks with Ricks. What inspired this storyline? Did you have fun creating a fictional show and “being” on set?
I tend to have the TV on for background noise when I write – usually something that I won’t pay avid attention to, like Flea Market Flip or American Pickers. So naturally, American Pickers inspired the fictional TV show in the book. Rural homesteads often have outbuildings with piles of stuff from generations past, and Aunt Edna’s old garage is no different!
I need absolute silence to write in, so I’m always amazed by writers who can do what you do, and still take in things like TV and music! All right, let’s explore more of your writing world. What does your workspace look like? Is there anything you need for a successful day of writing?
As I am writing this, I am on a trip to Idaho to visit family and have a launch party for the book. I’m not getting much writing done. 😉 If I do steal away to write, it’s on my laptop on a cushy chair or at someone’s dining room table. The biggest thing I need (that I’m not getting right now) is TIME. That won’t get better with the impending holidays though…so I need to adjust expectations! Flexibility is key.
Oh, time. We always want what we can’t have, right? What is your favorite, can’t-live-without writing tool these days?
Once I get into my writing groove, the word count app I use is a daily habit.
I’m waiting for the day when Word launches a built-in word count that updates per session. I’ve been giving them “feedback” about it for years. For our last question: It’s vacation time. What literary hero do you enlist to be your travel companion? Why?
I’m going to go with Hermoine. That bag of hers would make packing a breeze!
I love it. An Expandable Charm would make packing SO much easier! Rosalie, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy release schedule to chat with readers here at Noteworthy.
Noters, Murder Comes Home is available now, wherever you by your books!
Murder Comes Home: US Army retiree Tessa Treslow and her Aunt Edna put their auto restoration business on hold to host an "American Pickers"-style TV show, hoping their trash might be treasure to fun their new business. But not only do the pickers come with cameras and likeable stars, but a murderer…