Connie Archer Joins us talking about her new book!

It has been a pleasure to interview Connie Archer, the author of an incredible new series A Spoonful of Murder. Coming to a bookstore near you on August 7th, 2012.

Thank you Connie for being here with us today!!

Tell us about yourself Connie.

I was born in Boston and grew up there. I atteneded Northwest University where I majored in biology for the first few years, and later switched my major to English Literature. Even though most of my time was spent in the city, I've traveled all the New England States and know them very well. Years ago I relocated to California and now live in Los Angeles, so writing a series in Vermont has been a delight. I can imagine country roads without traffic, romantic snowstorms and idyllic small towns.


What inspired you to write a Spoonful of Murder and how did the Hero/Heroine come about?


Lucky Jamieson is a young woman at a crossroads in life. She had left Snowflake, Vermont to attend college in Madison, hoping to escape her smalltown roots. When she learns that her parents where killed in a car accident and that she has inherited their soup shop,  By the Spoonful, she returns home. Fearful now, and unsure of her quick decision, she must commit to the path she has chosen and make a go of the business.I think those terrible twists and turns of fate are something everyone can relate to-- the choices we make, the road taken and the road not taken.


I've always been a devotee' of all sorts of mysteries, but the village mystery holds a particular appeal. During a very long winter in Boston, one of my Aunts gave me a box of paperback Agatha Christie. I spent many snowbound days devouring them. The village mystery allows us to leave behind the world of computers, emails, deadlines, and the high pitched whining of wireless networks to escape into a fantasy world that no longer exsists in the 21st Century, perhaps not even in Vermont.



What kind of Research did you do for this book?


Spoonful of Murder didn’t require a great deal of research, although I did spend quite a bit of time updating myself about recent developments in industry and agriculture, population figures, and so on, in Vermont.  In Spoonful, the town of Snowflake has been affected by the economy, as has the rest of the country, but Lucky’s business is dealt a terrible blow when the body of a winter tourist is found frozen in the snow behind her restaurant.  Can she survive the fallout and get the Spoonful operational and successful again?


A Broth of Betrayal, the second book in the soup shop series, required a bit more research.  This book is set in the summer against the backdrop of the celebration of the Battle of Bennington, a battle crucial in the Revolutionary War, which took place on August 16, 1777.  Since my knowledge of early American history in Vermont was sketchy at best (being a Massachusetts native), I needed to familiarize myself with the details of that battle. 

 

Can you tell us a little about what is next in this series?

Snowflake is an old town with deeply buried secrets.  In A Broth of Betrayal two men fall victim to a murderer and a woman close to Lucky Jamieson disappears.  Lucky is certain the missing woman holds the key to the mystery and she must rescue her to unmask the murderer. 

The third book is untitled as yet, although several titles occasionally come to me and I must remember to jot them down before they disappear into the void. 

In book three, a band of travelers arrives in Snowflake to work at the town’s Harvest Festival.  One of the travelers has been searching for years for his lost love, while another man is found murdered by the side of the road.  Is the dead man connected to an old crime, as a retired investigator claims, or is he simply a random victim?  Lucky must do everything she can to solve the crime.  If she doesn’t succeed, a teenage girl’s life could be forever altered. 

What is the Best and worst thing about writing?

The worst thing about writing is sitting at the keyboard in the wee hours and suffering from frozen brain.  The best thing about writing is when a creative flow hits, your fingers fly over the keyboard, you realize you’ve left your body, entered another dimension and produced 2,000 words. 


The best thing about writing is reaching that point when the manuscript is ready to be sent to the publisher.  The button has been pressed and the computer can be shut down.  The worst is waiting for an editor’s remarks, comments and criticisms.  You only hope they like the book! 


  Connie Archer is the author of the soup lover’s mystery series set in Snowflake, Vermont. 
 Spoonful of Murder, the first in this series from Berkley Prime Crime will be released on August 7, 2012. 


Visit her website at http://www.conniearchermysteries.com/ or at Facebook.com/ConnieArcherMysteries.