It’s finally Wednesday, Booklovers!
Time for coffee (or the beverage of your choice) and book talk with guest author Camille Minichino with her featured cozy mystery, Mousse and Murder, published under the pen name of Elizabeth Logan.
Welcome, Camille. How do you take your coffee?
CM: Decaf cappuccino, whole milk, bone dry, so the to-go cup feels empty.
Ally: Since I have a magic pot, I can meet any request. Please introduce yourself to readers while I fill our mugs.
Time for coffee (or the beverage of your choice) and book talk with guest author Camille Minichino with her featured cozy mystery, Mousse and Murder, published under the pen name of Elizabeth Logan.
Welcome, Camille. How do you take your coffee?
CM: Decaf cappuccino, whole milk, bone dry, so the to-go cup feels empty.
Ally: Since I have a magic pot, I can meet any request. Please introduce yourself to readers while I fill our mugs.
Bio:
Camille Minichino, a retired physicist turned writer, is the author of more than 25 mystery novels in five series, plus short stories and articles. Camille teaches science at Golden Gate U., and writing in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio: “I was a Sister of Notre Dame for almost 20 years.”
Author Contacts:
Website: http://www.minichino.com.
Blog: http://www.minichino.com/wordpress.
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/minichino
Twitter: @minichino
Camille Minichino, a retired physicist turned writer, is the author of more than 25 mystery novels in five series, plus short stories and articles. Camille teaches science at Golden Gate U., and writing in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio: “I was a Sister of Notre Dame for almost 20 years.”
Author Contacts:
Website: http://www.minichino.com.
Blog: http://www.minichino.com/wordpress.
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/minichino
Twitter: @minichino
INTERVIEW:
Ally: Do you write with a theme or message in mind?
CM: Yes, sometimes too many! In my first series (first book, “The Hydrogen Murder”) I tried to cover a love of my hometown and Revere Beach; a tribute to the Italian-American neighborhood I lived in; lessons in science literacy; and feminist themes with a woman physicist character, to name a few! I pared it down in later books.
Ally: If you could meet your favorite author, what would you talk about?
CM: It would be Joyce Carol Oates, and I would ask how she manages to write so dark, but not appear to be a dark person. Can she get into the mind of darkness and leave it easily to return to chatting with a friend over coffee? Can she give me tips on moving from cozies to Goth? Has she ever been approached with a movie deal? And, of course, how does she manage to write so many stories?
Ally: Do you read reviews of your books? Do you respond to them? Good reviews are wonderful, but are you affected by the bad ones?
CM: I read them with clenched teeth. And I never read from my own published book at a signing or on a panel. It’s finished, and I can’t correct anything! The same with reviews; I scan, and never respond.
Ally: Do you prefer to read standalones or series books? Is it the same for writing?
CM: Standalones for both. Although it belies my own writing (5 series!) I think standalones are usually better written. In the one that I wrote off-series (“Killer in the Cloister”) I wasn’t worried about “saving” something for the second book, or trying to keep continuity, or developing an arc that left growth for future books. It was all there: the character arcs, the setting, the complete story.
Ally: Describe what you would consider the perfect get-away weekend.
CM: An easy one! A room of my own in New York City, around Rockefeller Center. On Friday, I’d sit in the Times Square bleachers with my laptop and write a short story starring the energy of the city. The tourists, the office workers, the smells from the food carts, the chatter of people around me. Walk around, see a drama on Broadway—not a musical! Then “Home” to my doorman building and sleep to the sound of jackhammers. On Saturday, cab to the Met arriving at opening time, go from gallery to gallery on the second floor, visit the special exhibit. Edit short story at coffee spot near American wing. Walk through the Medieval wing, more galleries, lunch in the members’ dining room, fourth floor. More galleries, shopping in the main floor store, out the street level exit at closing time. Cab to Little Italy for dinner, visit the Italian-American Museum if reopened after remodeling; cannoli from a Mulberry St. vendor or Ferrari’s. Sunday mass at St. Patrick’s, shop Rockefeller Center, polish short story in Grand Central Terminal coffee shop, continue on to Bloomingdale’s. Take the last flight out, or buy a townhouse and stay.
Ally: Do you have another book in progress?
CM: Mousse and Murder was just released this month, but I do have Book 2 of the same series, Fishing for Trouble, coming out in November.
Ally: Which of the short answer questions did you choose?
CM:
Ally: Do you write with a theme or message in mind?
CM: Yes, sometimes too many! In my first series (first book, “The Hydrogen Murder”) I tried to cover a love of my hometown and Revere Beach; a tribute to the Italian-American neighborhood I lived in; lessons in science literacy; and feminist themes with a woman physicist character, to name a few! I pared it down in later books.
Ally: If you could meet your favorite author, what would you talk about?
CM: It would be Joyce Carol Oates, and I would ask how she manages to write so dark, but not appear to be a dark person. Can she get into the mind of darkness and leave it easily to return to chatting with a friend over coffee? Can she give me tips on moving from cozies to Goth? Has she ever been approached with a movie deal? And, of course, how does she manage to write so many stories?
Ally: Do you read reviews of your books? Do you respond to them? Good reviews are wonderful, but are you affected by the bad ones?
CM: I read them with clenched teeth. And I never read from my own published book at a signing or on a panel. It’s finished, and I can’t correct anything! The same with reviews; I scan, and never respond.
Ally: Do you prefer to read standalones or series books? Is it the same for writing?
CM: Standalones for both. Although it belies my own writing (5 series!) I think standalones are usually better written. In the one that I wrote off-series (“Killer in the Cloister”) I wasn’t worried about “saving” something for the second book, or trying to keep continuity, or developing an arc that left growth for future books. It was all there: the character arcs, the setting, the complete story.
Ally: Describe what you would consider the perfect get-away weekend.
CM: An easy one! A room of my own in New York City, around Rockefeller Center. On Friday, I’d sit in the Times Square bleachers with my laptop and write a short story starring the energy of the city. The tourists, the office workers, the smells from the food carts, the chatter of people around me. Walk around, see a drama on Broadway—not a musical! Then “Home” to my doorman building and sleep to the sound of jackhammers. On Saturday, cab to the Met arriving at opening time, go from gallery to gallery on the second floor, visit the special exhibit. Edit short story at coffee spot near American wing. Walk through the Medieval wing, more galleries, lunch in the members’ dining room, fourth floor. More galleries, shopping in the main floor store, out the street level exit at closing time. Cab to Little Italy for dinner, visit the Italian-American Museum if reopened after remodeling; cannoli from a Mulberry St. vendor or Ferrari’s. Sunday mass at St. Patrick’s, shop Rockefeller Center, polish short story in Grand Central Terminal coffee shop, continue on to Bloomingdale’s. Take the last flight out, or buy a townhouse and stay.
Ally: Do you have another book in progress?
CM: Mousse and Murder was just released this month, but I do have Book 2 of the same series, Fishing for Trouble, coming out in November.
Ally: Which of the short answer questions did you choose?
CM:
- memorable book you’ve read: The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook.
- most watched tv show: Ray Donovan. I love hit men, and he’s so much more.
- a movie you’ll always remember: All the Godfathers. I can recite many scenes from memory.
- pie or cake? Strawberry rhubarb pie, or just rhubarb if available.
- Your hobbies: Miniatures—furnishing dollhouses and room boxes, making miniature scenes
MOUSSE AND MURDER (An Alaskan Diner Mystery)
Author Pen Name: Elizabeth Logan
Genre: Cozy mystery, whodunnit
Released: May 5, 2020
When Chef Charlotte “Charlie” Cooke was offered the chance to leave San Francisco and return home to Elkview, Alaska, and take over her mother’s diner, she didn’t even consider saying no. For the past year, she’s built a comfortable existence, spending her days making sure the restaurant runs smoothly and that her orange tabby, Benny, is appropriately pampered.
Determined to bring fresh life and flavors to the Bear Claw Diner, Charlie starts planning changes to the menu, which has grown stale over the years. Then her head chef, Oliver, turns up dead after a bitter and public fight over Charlie’s ideas—leaving Charlie and her staff the prime suspects.
With her career, freedom, and life all on thin ice, Charlie must find out who the real killer is, before it’s too late.
Buy Links List:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/622413/mousse-and-murder-by-elizabeth-logan/
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