Thank you for joining us today Victoria..
Tell us about yourself.
I have been a romance writer for a long time, but I always wanted to write mysteries. And now I do! After twelve years as a romance writer (which I enjoyed and still do, on the side!) I feel like I've finally found my place in the publishing industry. Mystery readers are the BEST! THE most supportive, loyal and intelligent group, and the same goes for my colleagues, other mystery authors.
Aside from writing I love cooking, crafts and collecting china and kitchenware. I adore cats and singing, and I'm generally a very fortunate person, with family and friends who are wonderful to me.
What inspired you to write this book?
Plain and simple, I was casting about for a publishable idea for a cozy mystery series, so I took something I know and love, vintage kitchenware (the Hoosier in A Deadly Grind is based on my own antique kitchen cabinet!) and built a series based on a collector of vintage kitchenware! Otherwise, the plot and characters sort of 'grew' in my mind as I took bits and pieces from here and there... it is exactly as amorphous as it sounds!
What are you working on next in this series?
Bowled Over, Book 2 of the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries (following A Deadly Grind) and Jaymie Leighton's next adventure, comes out March 5th, 2013, and Book 3, Picked for Murder follows in the Autumn. But I'm also working on two more mystery series for Berkley, so I'm very busy! I'm finally doing what I've wanted to do my whole, life, and it's so exciting!
If you could have dinner with any character from a book who would it be and why?
Okay, is it going to sound weird if I say Aslan, from C. S. Lewis's The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe? Who wouldn't want to sit down to dinner with a wise, lovely, talking lion? (As long as you weren't the entree.) Or Miss Marple, from Agatha Christie's novels. I always wanted to talk to that woman; she seemed to understand the darker side of human nature so well and that would come in handy as a mystery author.
What book are you reading now?
Right now I am reading M. C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin mystery A Spoonful of Poison. I love Agatha Raisin... so cranky and self-centered, so imperfect in every way!
Read A Deadly Grind, Book 1 of my new nationally bestselling cozy series, Vintage Kitchen Mysteries from Berkley Prime Crime.
Thank you again for visiting today. Come on every leave a comment here for Victoria!!
I read A Deadly Grind when it first came out and now I can't wait for the next one to come out. I love vintage kitchen things as well. I'd give my right arm to have a hoosier cabinent, but have nowhere to put one in my small kitchen.
ReplyDeleteI love A Deadly Grind and look forward to Bowled Over.
ReplyDeleteVictoria, do you find it hard to read a cozy while working on your own cozy series?
I can't wait for the second book in the series - the first one was so much fun!
ReplyDeleteLOVED A Deadly Grind and cannot wait for the new one to be released. I enjoyed reading a little more about you here, it s always fun to learn more about people we admire!
ReplyDeleteHey, Sue... thanks for the comment! The nice thing about a Hoosier style cabinet is the storage space they offer. I store dishes, pans, all my plastic and foil, zip-top baggies, Christmas dishes during the season, serving bowls... gosh, I'd be lost without it!
ReplyDeleteDru... I hope you'll like Bowled Over! No, not really, on the reading question. I'm reading an Agatha Raisin book right now while writing the first Teapot Collector mystery!
And thanks Michelle and Maureen!!