Welcome to this week's Coffee Chat!
If you're ready for your favorite beverage and some book talk, please join me in visiting with mystery author Kathy Krevat.
Good Morning, Kathy! How do you take your coffee?
Kathy: I am a total coffee addict! I prefer really good coffee to anything – even more than chocolate. I make a French press using about ¾ of a cup of coffee beans most mornings. If I’m feeling lazy, I use a Nespresso machine.
My favorite coffee beans are from Philz. I fell in love with their coffee years ago and I’m delighted that they’ve opened two shops here in San Diego. A third is opening about five minutes from my house and I expect that the third book in my series will be written there!
Ally: Wow! I think you can out shout me as a coffee fan! But my magic pot is up to any challenge. While I prepare our mugs, please introduce yourself to readers.
Bio:
Kathy Krevat is the author of the GOURMET CAT MYSTERY series featuring cat food chef Colbie Summers and her demanding cat Trouble, the culinary muse behind her recipes. Kathy also writes the bestselling CHOCOLATE COVERED MYSTERY series under the pen name, Kathy Aarons.
Kathy lives in San Diego with her husband of twenty-five years in the perfect location – close to Philz Coffee and the beach, and within visiting distance of her two grown daughters. When she’s not writing, she’s an advocate for youth arts education and president of Partners in Crime, the San Diego Chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio: “My mother was an animal lover and we had tons of animals in our house. In high school, I brought a litter of kittens home from band camp, bringing our total number of animals in the family to 18. That included horses, dogs, cats, guinea pigs, gerbils, and a rabbit.”
Author Contacts:
You can follow Kathy on Facebook or Twitter or visit her at: www.kathyaarons.com
Kathy Krevat is the author of the GOURMET CAT MYSTERY series featuring cat food chef Colbie Summers and her demanding cat Trouble, the culinary muse behind her recipes. Kathy also writes the bestselling CHOCOLATE COVERED MYSTERY series under the pen name, Kathy Aarons.
Kathy lives in San Diego with her husband of twenty-five years in the perfect location – close to Philz Coffee and the beach, and within visiting distance of her two grown daughters. When she’s not writing, she’s an advocate for youth arts education and president of Partners in Crime, the San Diego Chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio: “My mother was an animal lover and we had tons of animals in our house. In high school, I brought a litter of kittens home from band camp, bringing our total number of animals in the family to 18. That included horses, dogs, cats, guinea pigs, gerbils, and a rabbit.”
Author Contacts:
You can follow Kathy on Facebook or Twitter or visit her at: www.kathyaarons.com
INTERVIEW:
Ally: Let’s start by telling readers what type of books you write.
Kathy: My books are cozy mysteries, which means very little sex or violence on the page – something you can give your grandma.
Ally: How do you go about putting a book together?
Kathy: My writing process is ridiculous. After five published books, you’d think I’d have figured it out but I haven’t. I do a pretty good job of outlining – figuring out who the villain is and his or her motive and means. Before I start writing, I also list other suspects and the clues that lead to them, along with at least one clue that clears them.
I create a schedule with weekly goals and then completely ignore it until I’m panicked about finishing by the deadline. When I’m writing, I wake up very early – like 4-5 am -- and I write my best first thing in the morning, after a lot of coffee. I don’t write linearly – I work on the scenes that I visualize happening and fit them all together later. Sometimes, I’m forced to delete scenes.
I continue to add to my outline so that I can keep track of the plot and details like days of the week. I edit quite a bit as I go along and then do extensive revisions before I send it in.
I’m lucky that I’ve had excellent editors through the revision process. Somehow, it all gets done.
Ally: Does your real life show up in your writing? In what ways?
Kathy: Yes. My daughters were involved in musical theater and I use my experience making costumes for Elliott’s musical theater scenes.
Ally: What part do animals play in your books?
Kathy: Coco the cat was a big part of my Chocolate Covered Mystery series, and Trouble the cat is featured in the Gourmet Cat Mystery series. My main character, Colbie Summers, started an organic cat food business after rescuing Trouble and learning that she had digestive issues. She started making cat food for Trouble and then for her friends who owned cats with similar issues. Then she graduated to selling her products at farmers’ markets.
Ally: Which of your books is your personal favorite?
Kathy: My favorite is always the one I’m working on. Right now, that’s The Trouble With Talent.
Ally: Will that be your next release?
Kathy: Second in the series, The Trouble With Truth, comes out next on August 15, and the Trouble with Talent comes out June 2019.
Ally: If you met Harry Potter author JK Rowling, what would you talk about?
Kathy: I’d love to ask her how she does it. I think she’s a master at storytelling and would love to learn her process.
Ally: Whether you write or read fantasy, almost everyone wants a supernatural power. What one ability would you choose?
Kathy: Great question! I’d love to be able to heal people. Bad health takes such a toll on happiness and productivity. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to snap your fingers and change that?
Ally: Tell us about your home and how you get around in your daily life.
Kathy: I live in a suburb of San Diego, so in a house that looks like every other house on the block. Where I live has no public transportation, so I drive everywhere. At least I drive an electric car!
Ally: Try out these quick answer questions:
Ally: Let’s start by telling readers what type of books you write.
Kathy: My books are cozy mysteries, which means very little sex or violence on the page – something you can give your grandma.
Ally: How do you go about putting a book together?
Kathy: My writing process is ridiculous. After five published books, you’d think I’d have figured it out but I haven’t. I do a pretty good job of outlining – figuring out who the villain is and his or her motive and means. Before I start writing, I also list other suspects and the clues that lead to them, along with at least one clue that clears them.
I create a schedule with weekly goals and then completely ignore it until I’m panicked about finishing by the deadline. When I’m writing, I wake up very early – like 4-5 am -- and I write my best first thing in the morning, after a lot of coffee. I don’t write linearly – I work on the scenes that I visualize happening and fit them all together later. Sometimes, I’m forced to delete scenes.
I continue to add to my outline so that I can keep track of the plot and details like days of the week. I edit quite a bit as I go along and then do extensive revisions before I send it in.
I’m lucky that I’ve had excellent editors through the revision process. Somehow, it all gets done.
Ally: Does your real life show up in your writing? In what ways?
Kathy: Yes. My daughters were involved in musical theater and I use my experience making costumes for Elliott’s musical theater scenes.
Ally: What part do animals play in your books?
Kathy: Coco the cat was a big part of my Chocolate Covered Mystery series, and Trouble the cat is featured in the Gourmet Cat Mystery series. My main character, Colbie Summers, started an organic cat food business after rescuing Trouble and learning that she had digestive issues. She started making cat food for Trouble and then for her friends who owned cats with similar issues. Then she graduated to selling her products at farmers’ markets.
Ally: Which of your books is your personal favorite?
Kathy: My favorite is always the one I’m working on. Right now, that’s The Trouble With Talent.
Ally: Will that be your next release?
Kathy: Second in the series, The Trouble With Truth, comes out next on August 15, and the Trouble with Talent comes out June 2019.
Ally: If you met Harry Potter author JK Rowling, what would you talk about?
Kathy: I’d love to ask her how she does it. I think she’s a master at storytelling and would love to learn her process.
Ally: Whether you write or read fantasy, almost everyone wants a supernatural power. What one ability would you choose?
Kathy: Great question! I’d love to be able to heal people. Bad health takes such a toll on happiness and productivity. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to snap your fingers and change that?
Ally: Tell us about your home and how you get around in your daily life.
Kathy: I live in a suburb of San Diego, so in a house that looks like every other house on the block. Where I live has no public transportation, so I drive everywhere. At least I drive an electric car!
Ally: Try out these quick answer questions:
- a. favorite book – Belong to Me: A Novel, by Marisa de los Santos
- b. book you're currently reading – Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
- c. an author (living or dead) you'd love to take to lunch – J.K. Rowling
- d. an item on your bucket list – Spending a month in a cottage in Ireland
The Trouble with Murder
(A Gourmet Cat Mystery)
Genre: cozy mystery
Single mom and gourmet cat food entrepreneur Colbie Summers thought she’d escaped her tiny California hometown forever. But when her father needs her, she packs up her adolescent son, their finicky feline, Trouble, and her budding business. She knows change is tough—but she doesn’t expect it to be murder . . .
Between dealing with her newly rural life, her grumpy, sports-obsessed father, and preparing to showcase her products in the local Sunnyside Power Mom’s trade show, Colbie has more on her plate than she bargained for. Luckily, she has her official taste-tester, Trouble, by her side to vet her
Meow-io Batali Gourmet Cat Food line. Things look promising—until one of the Power Moms is found dead—with an engraved Meow-io specialty knife buried in her chest.
As the prime suspect, Colbie needs paws on the ground to smoke out who had means, motive, and opportunity among the networking mothers—including a husband-stealing Sofia Vergara lookalike. And the cat’s still not out of the bag when a second violent death rocks the bucolic community. Trouble may have nine lives, but Colbie’s only got one to clear her name and stop a killer from pulling off the purr-fect crime . . .
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Murder-Gourmet-Cat-Mystery-ebook/dp/B06XR2CHHD
B&N: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-trouble-with-murder-kathy-krevat/1126007331?ean=9781516102983
Mysterious Galaxy: www.mystgalaxy.com/ebook/9781516102983
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