My Weblog: Happy publication day!

by Laura Jensen Walker, guest blogger at the Femmes Fatales.

Catriona writes: This is a funny old business and most certainly an unfunny old year, but there are still shining moments. Such as - when a brand-new cozy author brings out the first book in her series and it's everything we need right now: funny, warm, twisted and absolutely rooted in a real life. Femmes and friends, I give you . . . Laura Jensen Walker.

C: This is your debut cozy but far from your debut book. Tell us a bit about your publishing history.

L: I’m a former journalist—reporter at The Sacramento Bee—so the first books I wrote were non-fiction (humorous.) Getting diagnosed with breast cancer the day after my first wedding anniversary made me finally pursue my lifelong dream of becoming an author. My first book, Dated Jekyll, Married Hyde, (title courtesy of my husband, Michael) was published in 1997. In 2000, the non-fiction book of my heart, Thanks for the Mammogram! (Fighting Cancer with Faith, Hope, & a Healthy Dose of Laughter) was released. It’s now being re-released with a fabulous new cover in a revised, updated version on 9/15/20. I’ve written a total of ten non-fiction humor books, including a Christmas book with Michael entitled God Rest Ye Grumpy Scroogeymen. (We’ve agreed for the sake of our marriage never to write a book together again.)

The childhood dream of my heart, however, was always to write fiction so I was thrilled to bits in 2005, when my first novel, Dreaming in Black and White, was released. After that, I wrote six more chick-lit novels. After writing 17 books in 12 years and starting a full-time job just before my last novel released, though, I found myself exhausted and burned out, feeling like I never wanted to write another book again. Happily, that changed, and I’m delighted and grateful that my first mystery novel is now being released. Fingers crossed I’ll be writing cozies for years to come. I also have a memoir, the book of my soul, I wrote a few years ago, which I hope will eventually be published.

C: How does mystery writing compare?

L: It’s the most fun I’ve ever had writing! I absolutely love it. Cozy mysteries are a genre tailor-made for me—writing light humor comes naturally to me, plus I’m a complete homebody. My favorite pastime is curling up with a good book and a cup of tea, with my sweet dog on the couch next to me, snuggled in our cozy cottage and looking out at the garden full of roses and dreaming I’m back in England again. (I’m a rabid Anglophile, having been stationed in Oxfordshire years ago in the Air Force, where I first fell in love with BBC mysteries.) Since discovering Trixie Belden as a child, I’ve always loved and devoured mysteries, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d be writing them!

Confession: I’m a total pantser. I don’t outline or plot (apart from a brief synopsis) and mysteries are all about plot. Intricate, well-thought-out, deeply planned and organized plots. Right? Thus, it never occurred to me that I could write a mystery. Not the person who writes character-driven fiction that unfolds organically. Each day when I sit down at my laptop and start to write, what comes out of my fingertips onto the screen is a fun surprise. Sometimes, I’ll tell Michael, “Guess what [insert main character’s name] did today?”

It wasn’t until a longtime editor friend of mine suggested I try my hand at cozy mysteries, that it ever occurred to me I might be able to write one. I’d always loved Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldy Bear culinary mysteries and Laura Childs’ tea shop mysteries, and of course, M.C. Beaton, but I didn’t know what else was out there, so I promptly went to my local Barnes and Noble. There I was gobsmacked (told you I was an Anglophile) to see the amount of cozy mysteries on the shelves! Wow. So many books. So many new-to-me authors. I bought a few and promptly went home and read them. I was delighted to discover they were fun and character-driven. Yes, plot is important, but cozies are all about the characters. And I thought, “maybe I can do this after all.” And then I did. So. Much. Fun.

C: think cozy covers are a joy. How did you find your first experience of going through that process with Crooked Lane?

It was great! First, they sent me an initial black-and-white sketch to review. I loved it (except that the dog looked more like a Husky than an American Eskimo) so I sent them Eskie photos, and told them the dog needed to be much smaller. The new version they sent was perfect. I LOVE the fun and colorful cover they came up with. (I think the dog is adorable—the spitting image of my first dog, our sweet Gracie, who crossed the rainbow bridge years ago.)

C: Teddie (in the Bookish Baker series) has a fantastic sense of style. And so do you. How would you describe yours and hers? Are they the same?

L:Thanks, Catriona! That means a lot, coming from you. I’ve always loved the way you dress with your pretty skirts and floral dresses over leggings. Teddie is boho-chic and loves wearing colorful and swirling bohemian maxi skirts and dresses from funky boutiques, ethnic shops, and vintage thrift stores. She dislikes expensive designer clothes--in complete contrast to her mother. Teddie, who, like me, is a breast cancer survivor, has a huge collection of colorful and whimsical scarves she pairs with her boho outfits, as do I, to cover our mutual breastless states so we don’t have to wear bras (which we both hate.) My style is similar to Teddie’s, but not entirely. Teddie rarely wears jeans and I (used to) live in jeans and T-shirts on the weekend--pre-pandemic. These days since I rarely leave the house, my wardrobe mainly consists of three different colorful caftans.

C: But what a house (and garden) to rarely leave When I went for tea, I took some flowers made up in a posy, much in the way that I might take a cooler full of snow if I visit Alaska!

But returning to books, Dru Ann Love said recently that even a long series should be conceived trilogy by trilogy. How far ahead have you planned Teddie's arc?

L: Ha! Planned? That word is anathema to this total pantser. Actually, I’m now finishing up edits on the second book in Teddie’s Bookish Baker series—Deadly Delights—which will release in June 2021. I’m not contracted for any more books in the series (yet) but I do have brief synopses for the next two books after Deadly Delights that I recently sent to my publisher. (Generally, from what I understand, my publisher contracts for two books at a time in a series.) Fingers crossed.

C: I sometimes think that jaded old hacks/very experienced writers are less helpful to budding writers than newbies can be. What one thing would you most like to pass on to the new mystery writers juuuust behind you on the journey?

L: Don’t give up. Everyone has an opinion, and different tastes. Not everyone is going to love your work. Don’t let one person’s opinion stop you from writing. I took Murder Most Sweet to an important writing conference and nervously submitted it to three publishing professionals for critique. Although I’d written 17 books, Murder Most Sweet was my first cozy and my return to writing after a decade’s absence. I was nervous and uncertain if I could truly write a mystery. I’d never done so before—this was a whole new genre for me—so I approached that first critique with a NY Times best-selling author with fear and trembling. That author told me my manuscript wasn’t ready for publication and needed work. Then this best-selling author told me all the things that were wrong with my manuscript. (She/He mentioned a few things She/He liked, but overall, said it needed work.)

I was crushed. My agent was already shopping it around! Should I call him immediately and tell him to stop? I was devastated and wanted to slink off somewhere and bawl my eyes out. Then came my second critique—this one with a longtime editor from a major NY publisher, who said I was a really good writer and my manuscript had all the necessary cozy elements. In fact, I’d made his mouth water with my descriptions of delectable Danish pastries. This time, the tears came. Especially when he said that although he didn’t edit cozies, he would take my manuscript back to his cozy editor colleague. In. New. York. When I mentioned the first critiquer’s negative reaction, he dismissed it, saying, “She/He doesn’t do frothy.” The final critique came from a freelance editor who said, “I LOVE it!” Less than two months later, my agent sold this cozy that “needs work” in a three-book deal. Everyone has an opinion.

C: Finally, how far are you right now from the nearest kringle? How do you cope?

L: About a mile and a half. We have a Trader Joe’s nearby, but Trader’s doesn’t regularly carry kringles. When they initially started carrying them a few years ago, they only stocked kringles at the holidays, but they’ve proven so popular, they now have them more often. If I get desperate for this beloved Danish-pastry treat from childhood, however, I’ll order one from O&H Bakery in Racine, 2,000 miles away (either raspberry or cherry-cheese, my favorites) and enjoy it warmed for breakfast two days later with a cup of PG Tips tea. Heaven.

C: Speaking of heaven . . . I was lucky enough to find the ARC of Laura's second book in my mailbox just yesterday. Hope, Faith, and a Corpse - the series debut of the Faith Chapel mysteries - comes out early next year.

And the first laugh-out-loud line is on page one! You could ask Laura about that in the comments. Or you could ask about it (and about that "book of the soul" . . .) tonight at 5.30pm (pacific) during the virtual launch party, via crowdcast, at Capitol Books on K. Click here to join the fun.

Laura Jensen Walker has loved mysteries ever since she read Trixie Belden in the fourth grade in her Danish-founded hometown of Racine, Wisconsin—America’s kringle capital. A former journalist and the author of several fun and frothy chick-lit novels and humorous non-fiction books, including Thanks for the Mammogram! Laura lives in Northern California with her Renaissance-man husband and their canine daughter, Mellie. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.