AN INTERVIEW WITH MYSTERY AND ROMANCE AUTHOR RHONDA BLACKHURST

Cozy mystery, romantic suspense and Hallmark-style contemporary women’s fiction author Rhonda Blackhurst enjoys hiding behind her computer screen, where she can unashamedly enjoy her addictions of dark chocolate and coffee. Learn more about her and her books at her website.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels? 

I knew I wanted to write before I could write—literally. At four years old, I scribbled with crayon on the knotty pine walls of our home. My parents weren’t impressed! I started out writing poetry but discovered novels were my true love.

 

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

In 2010, I heard about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and participated for the first time. That’s when publication popped into my head. In 2012, I published my first novel, The Inheritance. From there, I was hooked.

 

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

When I set out for publication, I made a pros and cons list for both trad and indie. The only pro on the trad side was validation, so I chose indie. Validation from my readers was more important. Ten years later, the idea of trad publishing wiggled its way into my head, so I tried it. Inn the Spirit of Murder and Inn the Dead of Winterhave been picked up by The Wild Rose Press.

 

Where do you write? 

I focus best in my home offices in Colorado and Arizona. I’ve placed window film on the windows in CO. It lets the light in, but also keeps my attention in. My desk in AZ faces the window where I see citrus and palm trees, quail, and even a frequent coyote. If my mind gets “squirrely,” I pull the shade.

 

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

Silence, nature sounds, or music without lyrics.

 

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

I retired from the Adams County District Attorney’s Office two years ago, where I handled some off-the-wall weird cases; some were too good from which to not pull threads. When I hear a reader say, “There’s no way that could happen,” I know that yes, it can and it does.

 

Describe your process for naming your character? 

I take care when naming characters. In my latest series, the main character is Andie Rose Kaczmarek. The surname is Polish for innkeeper, of which she is both.

 

Real settings or fictional towns? 

All three series (including the duology) are set in fictional towns loosely based on real ones. I use the real names of close-by larger cities.

 

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

Where the Crawdads Sing. It’s absolutely brilliant!

 

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

Raising my boys. There is so much I would do differently as I’ve learned more. That said, they’ve grown into fine young men I couldn’t possibly be prouder of. 

 

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

Coffee, dark chocolate, and a box of books. (A box is considered one thing, yes?) 😊

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy? 

As a kid, it was always my dream to be a reporter in New York City. Now I’m 100% a country girl!

 

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

Inn the Spirit of Murder was released July 24, 2024. Book two, Inn the Dead of Winter, is well on its way once I hit the final okay button, zipping it off to production. Book three, Inn Hallowed Ground, is well underway. I’m also plotting a standalone mystery from multiple points of view and am included in a mystery merge short story anthology, hopefully to be released by the end of this year.

 

Inn the Spirit of Murder

A Spirit Lake Mystery, Book 1

Six-year-sober life coach and skeptic, Andie Rose Kaczmarek, and her red retriever emotional support animal, Aspen, become the new owners of the surmised haunted Spirit Lake Inn in Minnesota. When Andie Rose finds a body in the inn's kitchen, she fears it will be the death of what's most important-the stellar reputation of the inn her grandparents, Grandpop and Honey, built. Aware of the risk of stress in sobriety, she gets an AA sponsor-feisty, spirited Sister Alice who, 30 years ago, traded in one habit for another. 

 

Andie Rose falls prey to a new, potentially more dangerous addiction—solving the murder. But in typical Sister Alice fashion, she transforms the danger of solving a murder into a spirited good time. Will Andie Rose flip from skeptic to believer?

 

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