AN INTERVIEW WITH KATHERINE JEAN WILK FROM AUTHOR MARY SEIFERT'S KATIE AND MAVERICK COZY MYSTERIES

Today we sit down for a chat with Katherine Jean Wilk, the main character in the Katie and Maverick Cozy Mystery series by author Mary Seifert. Learn more about Katie, the series, and her author at Mary’s website. 

What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings?

Before Mary and began collaborating, I’d been trying to get a job. I met the man of my dreams while attending the Royal Holloway in London, earned a degree in Mathematical Cryptanalysis with plans to work in encryption and decryption for the NSA (National Security Agency), but life got in the way. I found out Charles wasn’t who I thought he was. He had a title--Baron. I ran from him, but Charles had better sense and followed me home. We married. Seventeen days later, he was shot and killed, trying to protect me. I gave up those dreams and felt called to teaching high school mathematics instead, a nice safe, boring profession, I thought. Unfortunately, Mary set me up to find a body while walking my dog, and now I feel like a corpse magnet.

 

What’s the one trait you like most about yourself? 

Because I’m good at deciphering puzzles and riddles, I’ve been able to help solve a few crimes, even when law enforcement would rather I stay out of their hair. But my favorite attribute is my ability to make math more fun than expected for my students. A few of them have even thanked me, so I’ll put that in the win column.

 

What do you like least about yourself? 

At times I’m too serious. In my mind, everything happens for a reason, but sometimes I’d like to be able to just let it go. (Wouldn’t that make a great song?) I’m not sure that will happen, but I can hope. I think I’ve fallen in love again, and I have to work at not pushing him away. Pete Erickson is the kindest, sweetest, handsomest, smartest … you get what I mean. He keeps dropping wedding hints to Mary, but she hasn’t picked up on them yet.

 

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you? 

I hate the cold. Then, you ask, why stay in Minnesota? I love the change in seasons and am mesmerized by our trees budding and flowering in the spring, shading through the warm summer, painting the horizon with oranges, yellow, reds, and browns in the fall, and drifting to the ground before cleaning the world canvas with white snow and beginning again. Therefore, the strangest thing Mary has had me do is ICE FISH!

 

Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about? 

I wouldn’t say we argue, but we definitely have some heated discussions. Some of the characters I meet have a vicious streak and I have no tolerance for them. She also clearly colors within the lines. She’s a firstborn and tries to follow all the rules. I bend them whenever I can.

 

What is your greatest fear?

My dad has nearly recovered from his traumatic brain injury but I’m sure he was shot and Charles died, because of me. I haven’t figured out why and no one has yet discovered the shooter, but I’m afraid anyone I get close to might become a target. I’m careful, but I’ve noticed my guard has been slipping as I get more comfortable in my surroundings. I need to remind myself to stay alert but not hide away from life. 

 

What makes you happy? 

First and foremost, being written into stories with my friends and family makes me smile. I have Dad, a great landlady, a reliable best friend, an adorable, loving, hardworking, intelligent, handsome boyfriend, and Maverick, the best dog ever, who has put himself in harm’s way for me more times than I care to count. I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for him.

 

If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why? 

If I could have rewritten the Katie and Maverick Cozies without Charles dying, I would be happy, but then my story wouldn’t exist.

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?

ZaZa Lavigne began as a student at the Royal Holloway six months earlier than me and, unbeknown to me, fell deeply in love with Charles before I arrived. She never said anything, and he never knew. We lost touch and I didn’t hear from her for years, but a teaching position opened up at my school, and she applied. I don’t know why she gave up a job in security in Paris to come here, but she was hired and now is a thorn in my side, reminding me if he hadn’t married me, Charles might still be alive.

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?

If I couldn’t be me, I’d trade places with my crazy landlady who knows how to shake up life. She dances for exercise (winning competitions with her fabulous partner) and can cook like a chef at a Michelin Star restaurant. She’s a true artist with her head in the clouds and her feet planted firmly on the ground. She can pick up any craft with a snap of her fingers. She knows how to knit and tried to teach me but I’m still fumbling with the cast-on stitch. She lends me wonderful items to make even my wardrobe passable and I don’t know what we’d do without her. Everyone in town knows who she is, and most love her. 

 

Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog? 

Mary loves making trouble for me. When she’s not writing, she’s making incredible memories with family and friends, walking her dog, whose only speed is faster, carefully deleting reference to murder from her web-browser, and pretending to cook. You can find her nibbling chocolate and sipping wine, both of which sometimes occur WHILE writing and reading. Find more about her at maryseifertauthor.com.

 

What's next for you? 

The chronicle of my latest adventure, Creeps, Cache & Corpses, a spring break fiasco, is now available. But end-of-the-year activities are culminating at school, and I’ve discovered I have a younger half-sister, Ellen, which means my mother didn’t die as I’d thought; she’d left and started a new family. I’m trying to reconcile my definition of family with my new reality. In addition, my landlady, Ida Clemashevski, confesses to bouts of melancholia and forgetfulness, and we’ve witnessed her unexpected mood swings. I worry the symptoms are a prelude to dementia. Ellen hasn’t seen our long-lost mother in almost a decade, and I found out she’s begun a search for her, but her drive is blinding her good judgement, so Mary and I are trying to work out the next story.

 

Creeps, Cache & Corpses

A Katie & Maverick Cozy Mystery, Book 7

When Katie’s spring break plans for a romantic getaway with Pete fall apart, she skips the chance to go skiing with her dad and the sister she’s very recently met. Instead, she and Maverick and a group of friends travel to attend the memorial service for a student’s mother, but it is spring break so there will also be salon treatments, shopping, and sightseeing. But, from the moment they arrive, tension fills the air, as Edith Farthington, the oddball innkeeper, and her nephew appear to be harboring secrets and a few unwanted visitors.

The group is in town less than 24 hours when, during a geocache outing, Katie and her students discover a dead body concealed in a remote area of an area park. Unfortunately, the victim just happens to be one of the few people in town they’ve already met, and Katie’s group is getting the side-eye from the local cops.

The suspects are numerous, the motives tricky, but there’s a shock for Katie and those close to her when the sheriff leaps ahead to arrest one of their own. How can Katie find enough evidence to convince him otherwise, especially when she’s been warned to leave it to the professionals—many times?

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