Welcome to another beautiful day in the Midwest!
I have my coffee mug, my deck chair, and am ready for our Wednesday book talk. Today’s guest is mystery writer, Edith Maxwell.
Good morning, Edith! How do you take your coffee?
EM: I like a good dark roast, and I drink it with a bit of warmed milk.
Ally: An excellent choice. While I’m fixing that, please introduce yourself to readers.
I have my coffee mug, my deck chair, and am ready for our Wednesday book talk. Today’s guest is mystery writer, Edith Maxwell.
Good morning, Edith! How do you take your coffee?
EM: I like a good dark roast, and I drink it with a bit of warmed milk.
Ally: An excellent choice. While I’m fixing that, please introduce yourself to readers.
BIO:
Agatha- and Macavity-nominated author Edith Maxwell writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the Local Foods Mysteries, and award-winning short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she writes the popular Country Store Mysteries and the new Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries.
Maxwell is president of Sisters in Crime New England and lives north of Boston with her beau, two elderly cats, and an impressive array of garden statuary.
And something unique/unusual that isn’t in your regular bio? “I hold a long-dusty black belt in karate, and an equally dusty doctorate in linguistics.”
Author Contacts:
Edith blogs at Wicked Cozy Authors, Killer Characters, and Under the Cover of Midnight. Read about all her personalities and her work at her web site. You can also find her at @edithmaxwell on twitter, at edithmaxwellauthor on Instagram, as Edith Maxwell on Goodreads, and on Facebook at Edith M. Maxwell. She’s also at most of those places as Maddie Day Author.
Agatha- and Macavity-nominated author Edith Maxwell writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the Local Foods Mysteries, and award-winning short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she writes the popular Country Store Mysteries and the new Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries.
Maxwell is president of Sisters in Crime New England and lives north of Boston with her beau, two elderly cats, and an impressive array of garden statuary.
And something unique/unusual that isn’t in your regular bio? “I hold a long-dusty black belt in karate, and an equally dusty doctorate in linguistics.”
Author Contacts:
Edith blogs at Wicked Cozy Authors, Killer Characters, and Under the Cover of Midnight. Read about all her personalities and her work at her web site. You can also find her at @edithmaxwell on twitter, at edithmaxwellauthor on Instagram, as Edith Maxwell on Goodreads, and on Facebook at Edith M. Maxwell. She’s also at most of those places as Maddie Day Author.
INTERVIEW:
Ally: Who or what inspired you to write fiction?
EM: I’ve always had an overactive imagination, and I love reading mysteries. It only made sense for me to make up mysterious stories that other people want to read. I have fourteen books in print, five more completed, and am about to start writing my twentieth novel.
Ally: After nineteen books, you must have the process down pat. What kind of schedule works for you?
EM: I am usually up by six in the morning, and I’m at my desk working by seven, every day but Sunday. I write or revise all morning, then go for a walk. If I’m writing a first draft I usually talk out loud to myself as I walk, plotting the next day’s work (I dictate a text to myself so I don’t forget). Afternoons are usually reserved for all the other work of being an author – writing blog posts like this one, arranging speaking events, accounting, and so on. Working in this way I can write a first draft in about a month and a half or less. I write three novels a year and a short story or two, so I have to be efficient. Writing fiction is my full-time job and I love it. I’m living my dream.
Ally: How much research do you do?
EM: I do tons of research for this historical series. I look up when words were first used in the Online Etymology Dictionary. I look at Pinterest boards of late Victorian clothing. I have a replica of the 1890 Sears and Roebuck catalog so I can see what was available for purchase and how much it cost. I also have replicas of a guide to police procedure and a midwifery textbook. I use local maps, histories of my local area, and of course, your friend and mine – Mr. Google!
Ally: Do you include animals in your books?
EM: In the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the family acquires a sweet yellow kitchen kitten named Christabel. She’s a great mouser, and is modeled on and named for our junior cat (now sixteen, however). All my series have a cat modeled on one of ours, present or past, except my new Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries. The protagonist in those books is very allergic to mammalian pets, so she has an African Gray parrot, instead.
Ally: Readers are often curious about writers’ lives. Tell us a little about your home.
EM: I live in an antique house north of Boston on the New Hampshire line near the coast. My Quaker midwife and her family lived in this very house, which was built for mill workers in 1880. We live near the downtown of our small city but on a very quiet street. I walk or bike everywhere unless I’m going more than three miles away, then I get in my little Prius C.
Ally: Who or what inspired you to write fiction?
EM: I’ve always had an overactive imagination, and I love reading mysteries. It only made sense for me to make up mysterious stories that other people want to read. I have fourteen books in print, five more completed, and am about to start writing my twentieth novel.
Ally: After nineteen books, you must have the process down pat. What kind of schedule works for you?
EM: I am usually up by six in the morning, and I’m at my desk working by seven, every day but Sunday. I write or revise all morning, then go for a walk. If I’m writing a first draft I usually talk out loud to myself as I walk, plotting the next day’s work (I dictate a text to myself so I don’t forget). Afternoons are usually reserved for all the other work of being an author – writing blog posts like this one, arranging speaking events, accounting, and so on. Working in this way I can write a first draft in about a month and a half or less. I write three novels a year and a short story or two, so I have to be efficient. Writing fiction is my full-time job and I love it. I’m living my dream.
Ally: How much research do you do?
EM: I do tons of research for this historical series. I look up when words were first used in the Online Etymology Dictionary. I look at Pinterest boards of late Victorian clothing. I have a replica of the 1890 Sears and Roebuck catalog so I can see what was available for purchase and how much it cost. I also have replicas of a guide to police procedure and a midwifery textbook. I use local maps, histories of my local area, and of course, your friend and mine – Mr. Google!
Ally: Do you include animals in your books?
EM: In the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the family acquires a sweet yellow kitchen kitten named Christabel. She’s a great mouser, and is modeled on and named for our junior cat (now sixteen, however). All my series have a cat modeled on one of ours, present or past, except my new Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries. The protagonist in those books is very allergic to mammalian pets, so she has an African Gray parrot, instead.
Ally: Readers are often curious about writers’ lives. Tell us a little about your home.
EM: I live in an antique house north of Boston on the New Hampshire line near the coast. My Quaker midwife and her family lived in this very house, which was built for mill workers in 1880. We live near the downtown of our small city but on a very quiet street. I walk or bike everywhere unless I’m going more than three miles away, then I get in my little Prius C.
Ally: What's coming next? How long until a new book release?
EM: Death Over Easy, my fifth Country Store Mystery (written as Maddie Day) releases July 31, 2018. You can pre-order now (Amz: www.amazon.com/Death-Over-Country-Store-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0776H5T7B/ )
Charity’s Burden, the fourth Quaker Midwife Mystery, will be out in April, 2019.
EM: Death Over Easy, my fifth Country Store Mystery (written as Maddie Day) releases July 31, 2018. You can pre-order now (Amz: www.amazon.com/Death-Over-Country-Store-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0776H5T7B/ )
Charity’s Burden, the fourth Quaker Midwife Mystery, will be out in April, 2019.
Ally: I'm sure fans will be eagerly waiting for those! Let’s finish our interview with a few short answer questions.
- an author (living or dead) you'd love to take to lunch – Agatha Christie, Queen of the traditional and cozy mystery
- an item on your bucket list – A long visit to Australia and New Zealand
- favorite tv show – “Call the Midwife” - of course!
- high heels or sneakers – Never heels! Sneakers, Birkenstock sandals, flat boots in winter, Rockport mary janes at conferences.
- favorite quote – “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Mary Oliver, “The Summer Day”
Turning the Tide (A Quaker Midwife Mystery)
Genre: historical mystery
Rating: PG/PG-13
Excitement runs high during presidential election week in 1888. The Woman Suffrage Association plans a demonstration and movement leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton comes to town to rally the troops, one of whom is Quaker midwife Rose Carroll. But the next morning, Rose finds the dead body of the group's local organizer. Rose can't help wanting to know who committed the murder, and she quickly discovers several people who have motives. After Rose's own life is threatened, identifying the killer takes on a personal sense of urgency.
Buy Links:
https://www.amazon.com/Turning-Tide-Quaker-Midwife-Mystery/dp/0738750549/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/turning-the-tide-edith-maxwell/1126441814
http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Turning-Tide/Edith-Maxwell/9780738750545
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