I’m one of the authors participating in the challenge to get a new 25-novel cozy mystery boxed set onto the USA Today Bestseller List. It’s called 25 Mysteries to Die For and will be available from December 27th. And it’s just 99¢/99p!
So if you’re interested in adding hours of cozy mystery reading to your ereader for a bargain price, and helping us to achieve our goal at the same time, you can pre-order it right now for Nook or Kobo. (Coming soon for iBooks and Kindle).
In the meantime, you can get to know all the participating authors here. Check back often, I’ll be posting a new interview every day until the boxed set is launched.
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In today’s interview, I welcome Maggie West, whose Cozy Mystery, Hook, Line & Stinker, is featured in the above mentioned box set.
Maggie, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a copyeditor and writer and mostly a big fan of fiction! I think it’s the escape from the everyday that I love so much about fiction. I’ve read so much fiction that I think the next logical step was to write it. As hobbies, I love antiques and crafting and sewing. I also love playing with my energetic kitten and taking walks.
Was there a certain time in your life you knew you wanted to write?
I’ve always enjoyed writing. I would stay in at recess in second grade to write letters to my mom. Those letters weren’t terribly exciting, but I enjoyed it more than playing tag on the playground!
What are you currently working on?
I’m working on another installment in my Antique Pickers in Paradise Cozy Mystery series. These are short reads so are perfect for reading while commuting or waiting at appointments or just for a quick read you can read all in one sitting. I love putting Sherri and Carol in awkward situations (usually there’s a dead body involved) and seeing how they handle it.
Of the books you’ve written, which one is your favorite and why?
I really like my antique pickers cozy series and so far, my first book, Picked to Death, is my favorite. In Picked to Death, I got to develop the characters of Sherri, Carol, Ralph, and Leon and fix the people who in the small Midwestern town of Paradise.
What books have most influenced you as a writer?
I am basically nosey and love to read about real people’s lives. In elementary school the library had biographies of famous people and I read them all. Fiction, to me, is just an extension of real life. It may not have happened exactly as written, but it’s fun to take snippets from life and use them to create characters and scenarios that could happen.
What do you find to be the most challenging part of writing? And the most rewarding?
I have trouble plotting before I start writing. I have an idea of what the story will be but often it switches course and ends up somewhere else. And that’s okay! Finishing is good. Good and rewarding!
What book is on your nightstand?
I’m reading A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. It’s wonderful!
What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future?
Right now I’m concentrating on my Antique Pickers series but would like to dust off some standalone novels I wrote several years ago and publish at least one of those.
Is there anything you’d like to share with your readers?
You rock! That’s what this whole writing business is all about after all. Readers make writers complete!
AUTHOR LINKS
Website link: http://www.maggiewestbooks.com
Facebook Link (author page) https://www.facebook.com/MaggieWestAuthor
Twitter Link https://twitter.com/MaggieWestBooks
AUTHOR BIO
Maggie West is the author of the Antique Pickers in Paradise cozy mystery series and the Lily Thistle cozy mystery series, the Doorways to the Past time travel series, and several romance books. When she’s not reading or writing, she loves to craft and sew, keep her kitten out of trouble (oh boy, good luck with that!), and take walks where she dreams up new stories.
Hook, Line & Stinker by Maggie West is just one of the titles featured in a 25-novel cosy mystery collection called 25 Mysteries to Die For which aims to hit the USA Today Bestseller List at the end of the year.