BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- AN INTERVIEW WITH COZY MYSTERY AUTHOR LIZ BOEGER

Today we sit down for a chat with award-winning cozy mystery author Liz Boeger. Learn more about her and her books at her website.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels? 

When I had a dream about the basic premise of AppleJacked in 2012.

 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication? 

Nine years for the first book, ChainLinked, then AppleJacked followed this year. 

 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author? 

I’m indie published but part of an authors co-op called Misterio Press, where we help vet one another’s’ drafts and cross promote our work. They are an amazing group of writers.

 

Where do you write? 

Mostly in my head and then when it gets to the tipping point, I go to the computer. The typing usually happens at my kitchen computer nook, in my easy chair, or on the back porch.

 

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind? 

SILENCE!!

 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular? 

The flavor of my life as a school administrator and teacher is there, but the stories and characters are completely fictional. The setting is a mashup of the many childhood and adult adventures I enjoyed on my beloved Florida Gulf coast.

 

Describe your process for naming your character? 

Some names come automatically, others take a lot of thought, but that’s usually because they sound like caricatures or cliches. I knew I wanted my main character to have an Irish/American heritage so she’s Ana Callahan. 

 

Real settings or fictional towns? 

Combo. The main town is a fictional island set in an area of Florida where a real nature preserve is established. There are also excursions to actual locations in Tampa and the surrounding vicinity featuring completely fictional endeavors.

 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has? 

Ana does a lot of snarky self-talk, but it is mostly a stress response. I like to think of residents of the island itself as one big quirky character. Come to find out the good folks of Moccasin Cove know a thing or two about secret networks and ways to bypass the rabid press who besiege the town looking for juicy news tidbits after a murder or two.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk? 

I write murder mysteries. Enough said.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why? 

The list is so long. From adult traditional mysteries to middle grade fiction there are so many authors I flat out admire because reading their work makes writing look effortless. And I know that it absolutely is not. But to name one for middle grade—JK Rowling and the Harry Potter franchise because I admire her persistence and the planning that went into creating the entire arc of the series. For adult mysteries it would have to be the late great Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone series.

 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours? 

I don’t believe in do-overs because I don’t believe in tempting fate. Work hard and deal with the incoming tide until you can ride the waves to success and happiness.

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve? 

Cliches like “Ride the wave to success and happiness.”

 

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves? 

A sticky-note requesting rescue, a populated island within rock-throwing distance. A rock.

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held? 

Babysitting as a teenager. Ugh.

 

Who’s your all-time favorite literary character (any genre)? Why?

You really want me to choose? Impossible, because I have so many more books to read.

 

Ocean or mountains? 

Ocean

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy? 

Island Country

 

What’s on the horizon for you? 

I’m deciding on the storyline for Book 3 in the Moccasin Cove series. I also have ideas for another cozy mystery series and a middle grade book percolating in the back of my brain for future work.

 

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books? 

Yes, thank you. I am indebted to the writing community for the encouragement and academic support they provide as I have learned to become an author. Likewise, for the readers who have embraced my books and left great reviews to encourage others to visit Moccasin Cove.

Applejacked

A Moccasin Cove Mystery, Book 2

 

Elementary principal Ana Callahan knows a thing or two about flipping failing schools, but she’s discovered the learning curve on solving murders is steep.

 

Now in the second year of her school rescue, in Moccasin Cove on Florida’s Gulf coast, Ana is on the verge of winning a pivotal grant award. But her grand plan hits a snag after a teacher is murdered and the crime is pinned on a runaway teenager Ana mentored. The story goes viral. Ana’s campus is besieged by the media, angry parents, and complex questions about the dead teacher’s past. Worse, the myopic rookie detective assigned to the case has her sights set on all the wrong suspects.

 

While grieving the teacher’s death, Ana starts her own investigation, but her discovery of a body on the beach pins a bullseye on Ana’s back. In her quest to solve two murders, locate the missing teen, and salvage the grant win, Ana unwittingly unleashes a riptide of childhood secrets that force her to learn a hard lesson... 

It takes a village to raise a child, but it may also take your life.

 

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