Here’s a tasty treat for you!
My newsletter readers may recall that last month I featured an unbeatable deal on a boxed set of brand-new contemporary cozies, the Summer Snoops and Cozy Crimes collection. Well, I managed to snag an exclusive interview with author Sandi Scott, one of the contributors! She’s giving us a behind-the-scenes look at how bestselling authors create a collection, and why this particular boxed set means so much to her.
En voiture, mesdames messieurs. Allons-y!
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Sandy, thank you so much for joining me on the blog. As you know, I’m only on my third mystery novel, so I love to learn from authors with more experience.
The Summer Snoops and Cozy Crimes collection is such an exciting collaboration. It features never-before published works by a dozen different well-known cozy mystery authors, including several national bestsellers. Have you all worked together before? How did the project come together?
The great thing about cozy authors is that, in general, they want to see each other succeed. So I had done cross promotions with many of the authors in the box set before, but nothing as major as this box set. I was just tickled pink when I received an invitation from the organizers to participate in the box set. It has been a tremendous opportunity to connect with and learn from some authors that I admire, who are amazing at selling books! I had no idea how much work went into a box set and just how much I didn’t know about book publishing.
The collection is themed around dogs, and one of the astonishing things about this collection is that you’re all donating the profits to support no-kill shelters. What a lovely mission, and how generous! Why are shelter pets so close to your heart?
Mostly because they are so close to my readers’ hearts. I love my cozy readers and their fur babies. Every week, my readers share the most amazing stories about their pets. And many of them are rescued from shelters. Just today, for example, a reader wrote me about her chihuaua who made milk for and fed an orphan litter of puppies. How amazing! Our pets serve as such a great reminder of unconditional love in this world, and I think we have a lot to learn from them.
Both your Seagrass Sweets series and your Pet Portraits series have dogs as major characters. Were any of your canine characters inspired by real-life pets?
The dog that inspired Dizzy – who stars in my Seagrass Sweets books — is a lab hound mix that lives with my brother’s family. She is a rescue who traveled from Kentucky to Wisconsin, where she was rescued! How amazing is that? She is full of zest for life, but not exactly the brightest dog. She also has the nine lives of a cat – I’ve seen her get hit by a car and survive and fall in a frozen lake in Wisconsin’s winter, and survive! She’s an amazing creature whose enthusiasm for life makes up for her “dizzy” moments.
The Summer Snoops collection also features recipes. What is your recipe for, and why do you love it?
Mine is for croquembouche – a VERY fancy French cake. I love it simply for its decadence. I have only made it once – and that was enough! It was a divine labor of love, but in the future, I’ll let someone who is a better baker do that labor! :0
Sounds delicious! Tell us about Croquembouche Murder, your piece in the collection. What’s the setup?
Ashley Adams and Patty LaFontaine get hired to cater a wedding on a millionaire’s remote ranch out west. The bride is his niece, and the millionaire rescues animals and houses them at his ranch, so the characters are dozens of rich people and dozens of creatures. When a pilot who flew a private plane to the ranch shows up dead, Ashley and the animals team up to solve the murder so she can get back home.
Oh, I can tell that’s going to be a fun read. Was this a story you had already been working on, or did you start “from scratch” when you joined the collection?
I started from scratch for the collection. It was a fun one to write – the idea came to me after fantasizing about getting away to a remote location for a little get away.
I think we can all relate to that! Is Croquembouche Murder part of your Seagrass Sweets series, or is it a stand-alone book?
It’s a standalone story, but features characters from the Seagrass Sweets series.
As I mentioned last month, readers can get Summer Snoops and Cozy Crimes at Amazon or their favorite retailer through the Universal Book Link at books2read.com/SummerSnoopsCozyCrimes. Where can they learn more about you and your other books?
I invite readers to learn more about me at my website, where they can join my reader’s group, Sandi’s Sleuths, and get four free books from me! (The first two in both of my series). Check it out at www.SandiScottBooks.com.
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One of the things I like best about being a cozy mystery author is the community of other authors. They are all so supportive! And we really love our readers. In addition to getting TWELVE new mysteries for 99 cents in the Summer Snoops collection, you can get Sandi’s starter library for free at her website. I hope you enjoy your summer reading!
