Leslie Budewitz writes The Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in Jewel Bay,
Montana. “It takes a village to catch a killer.” The books feature Erin Murphy,
proprietor of The Merc, a market specializing in regional foods, in her
family’s century-old former grocery. Erin’s passion for pasta, retail, and
huckleberry chocolates leads to an unexpected talent for solving murder. http://www.lesliebudewitz.com/a.media.html
Welcome to
Writers Who Kill, Leslie. Your first book, Books,
Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law &
Courtroom Procedure, won the 2011 Agatha Award for Nonfiction. As a mystery
writer, what prompted you to write nonfiction?
Thanks for the warm welcome, Elaine.
Why nonfiction? I’m also a lawyer, in
practice since 1984. Over the years, other writers have asked me questions
about using the law in their stories, so I started writing regular columns in
writers’ newsletters – primarily First Draft, the Sisters in Crime Guppies
chapter newsletter, and InSinc, SinC National’s quarterly – and working
directly with writers, providing research and reviewing manuscripts. My focus
is everyday plot problems, like when a fictional police officer needs to warn a
suspect, how to get a search warrant, and whether a character can inherit from
another. Eventually that led to a blog and a book. It’s possible to get the
facts right AND tell a good story, but sometimes writers need a little help.
What was the
best fiction-writing instruction you ever received?
Ah, so much to choose from! Write – er, right
now, I’m keeping in mind advice from Dennis Palumbo, mystery writer, therapist,
and former screenwriter, at a presentation at Bouchercon in 2010: You have all
you need to be the writer you want. And, you can only solve writing problems by
writing.
What is your
favorite mystery genre and why?
I’m loving writing cozies! What strikes me
most is that the murder disrupts the social order of the community. Law
enforcement is necessary to restore external order – aka obtain justice -- but
the amateur sleuth has the inside knowledge necessary to identify the critical
clues, solve the crime, and restore the internal order of the community. And
community is at the heart of the cozy.
How
did the deal with Berkley Publishing Group for the Food Lovers' Village
Mysteries come about, and did you obtain a three-book deal?
The
series sold on proposal---meaning a short overview of the series and each of
the first three books, and a synopsis and first three chapters of the first
book. No outline required, although I am an outliner and wrote one for myself
so that I could dive back into the story easily when it sold. I love that
Berkley offers three-book deals for new series, to give writers time to find
their audience.
In Death Al Dente, main character Erin
Murphy hasn’t chosen an easy position. She’s working in a family-owned business
with her mother, the foibles of a mother/daughter relationship included, to
save and change the Glacier Mercantile; she’s replaced the long-time manager,
who wasn’t suited for the job and who becomes a murder victim; and she’s
changing the focus of the business, which creates hard feelings with old
venders. Why did she take the job?
Erin is 32, a critical age for a young woman.
If she’s not married yet, and focused on her career, she’s rethinking. Erin’s
come to realize that while city life’s been fun, and she’s enjoyed her work,
it’s not what she really wants for the future. And as with a lot of Montana
kids – maybe small-town kids world-wide, she’s thinking that the town she
couldn’t wait to leave is looking more attractive.
Plus there’s still that matter of her
father’s death in an unsolved hit-and-run ….
“Every victim has a good side. But they’re
often the folks who live on the edges, and find themselves
on the wrong side of
luck.” (Kindle 3863,
Death Al Dente)
Do you believe in luck?
What’s that old line, “fortune favors the
well-prepared”?
Why does Erin
have three stars tattooed on her left wrist, and what color are the stars?
Ah. I’m going to make you wait until a future
book for the “why”! I see them in primary colors, red, blue, and yellow.
Erin’s cat
is a Burmese. What attracts you to this species?
Because there’s one sitting on the couch next
to me! Seriously, Burmese are wonderful pets – a sweet mix of friendliness and
feline independence.
Erin has
labored under a false assumption concerning her former best friend and now
police detective, Kim Caldwell. Is timing an important element in life? Does
coincidence happen?
More to come on that story line. I tend to
agree that there are no coincidences – but we often don’t know all the forces
behind some of life’s more mysterious events.
Would you
share the promotional blurb of your next Food Lovers’ Village Mystery, CRIME
RIB, which will be released in July, 2014?
“Gourmet food market owner Erin Murphy is determined to get
Jewel Bay, Montana’s scrumptious local fare some national attention. But her
scheme for culinary celebrity goes up in flames when the town’s big break is
interrupted by murder…
Food Preneurs, one of the hottest
cooking shows on TV, has decided to feature Jewel Bay in an upcoming episode,
and everyone in town is preparing for their close-ups, including the crew at
the Glacier Mercantile, aka the Merc. Not only is Erin busy remodeling her
courtyard into a relaxing dining area, she’s organizing a steak-cooking
competition between three of Jewel Bay’s hottest chefs to be featured on the
program.
But Erin’s plans get
scorched when one of the contending cooks is found dead. With all the drama
going on behind the scenes, it’s hard to figure out who didn’t have a motive to off the saucy contestant. Now, to keep
the town’s rep from crashing and burning on national television, Erin will have
to grill some suspects to smoke out the killer…”
Do you have
any advice you’d like to share with non-published fiction writers?
Read, write, analyze, and keep working. As
Dennis Palumbo says, you have what you need inside you – and you can only write
the books you want by writing.
As a lawyer,
are there any legal thrillers in your writing future?
Not for a while. I’ve got at least one more
Food Lovers’ Village Mystery to write, and also have a
three-book contract with
Berkley Prime Crime for the Seattle Spice Shop Mysteries. The first,
tentatively titled Spiced to Death, will be out in March 2015.
Bonus
Question: I have a feeling that my next question is a no-brainer, but do you
prefer beach or mountain, and why?
Oh, I’m a mountain girl, no question. That’s
where my heart soars.
Thanks for letting me visit Writers Who Kill!