An Interview with Heather Weidner By E. B. Davis

Christmas has come to Fern Valley, and the town’s decked out with enough glitter and sparkle for a month’s worth of celebrations, each more over-the-top than the previous one. The idyllic setting, filled with laughter, carols, and sweet treats, is shattered, along with some of the decorations, when the current wife and the ex-wife of a big-cat showman have a knock-down, drag-out fight in the center of town. Jules Keene, owner of the Fern Valley Glamping Resort, tries to keep peace among her guests and with the town council, but it turns into a catastrophe when Tabbi Morris, winds up dead in one of her ex-husband’s tiger cages.

And if the murder wasn’t enough, Jules discovers that some of the big cats are missing, but the owner and his family insists that nothing is wrong.

Curiosity gets the best of her, and she has to solve the murder and figure out if the owner of Cal’s Cats is pussy-footing around or whether it’s something more sinister before it ruins the holiday season and her business.

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The setting in Christmas Lights and Cat Fights by Heather Weidner plays a big role in bringing the season into the story. Main character Jules Keene’s camping resort of vintage trailers and little houses is dwarfed by evergreens in the Blue Ridge Mountain region of Western Virginia. Periodic snowfalls provide an element of cozy as do the seasonal meals and beverages.

Two unpleasant women vendors dominate the Christmas festival headed up by Jules. They are also guests at the campground and share a man, one, an ex, the other, the current wife. A fatal stabbing results in one becoming the victim and the other, the perpetrator, if only Jules could buy off on the logical and convenient explanation. But of course, she doesn’t.

Please welcome our own Heather Weidner to the flip side of WWK.                                                                                                                                                                    E. B. Davis

Jules was previously married to the “Idiot.” When did that occur? How old is Jules? Jules is in her mid-thirties. She married the Idiot right out of college and realized that he wasn’t the prince charming she thought he was. He’s a good-looking smooth talker who is always looking for a get-rich quick scheme. He shows up at the resort in one of the later books (much to Jules’s chagrin).

Forgive me for backtracking, Heather. This is the third book in your series, but the first book that I’ve read. How did Jules come to own the camping resort? Her parents owned a traditional campground that they bought in the 70s before she was born. After her divorce, she moved back home and put her interior design skills to good use and helped her father save vintage trailers from the dump. She turned them into luxurious accommodations, and it was just in time for the glamping craze.

Jules is the president of the town’s business council. Jules characterized her lead festival-committee person, Elaine James, another business owner, as a little prickly. And yet, it seems to me that Jules has delegated just about everything to Elaine. Jules provides oversight and an occasional hand. When it comes to organizational contact of placing vendors in the correct place, Jules lets Elaine take the lead, which leads to trouble. Wouldn’t Jules have had the same issues with the vendors if she had taken a more active role? I think so. That bunch of vendors was quite unique and opinionated. Conflict was destined to happen. In the earlier books, Jules took on most of the tasks, and her day job and volunteer work were wearing her out. By this story, she’s finally learned to delegate and supervise the great team of town volunteers.

Shouldn’t the cops have been called when the women had a physical fight? Probably, but it’s a small town, and Jules wasn’t sure if the two combatants would have waited for the sheriff or his deputies to arrive.

Does Jules’s boyfriend Jake Evans work for her? How long have they been together? Jake has worked at the campground since his teen years, so they’ve known each other for quite a while. He returned home to Fern Valley from two tours of duty, and it coincided with Jules’s divorce and return to town. He is the maintenance/security guy for the property, and he lives in one of the smaller cabins.

Jules’s aunt Roxanne is actually a wealthy woman. Why does she work at the resort? Her husband has passed away, and her son lives on the west coast. I think she likes the company. Working with Jules gives her something to do, and it helps her keep her finger on the pulse of what’s going on in Fern Valley. She is also protective of Jules, and she tries to help her with the business as much as she can.

Does the resort have a lodge with a restaurant? Jules actually has quite a few employees, doesn’t she? There is a lodge that’s Jules’s multi-purpose room for the resort. The mother and daughter duo of Mel and Crystal cater the breakfasts for guests. They also clean the campers and tiny houses. Jake is the maintenance/security guy, and Lester Branch is the landscaper who keeps the property in order. And of course, Bijou is her little Jack Russell Terrier who is the resort’s greeter and chief squirrel chaser.

How did the wild cats become part of the Christmas festival? Was Jules aware that animal rights activists could show up to protest? This was a head scratcher. How did the wild animals end up in the town’s holiday festival? When the call went out for vendors and parade participants, the owner of Cal’s Cats signed up. They didn’t quite fit the theme of the event, but their animals were a hit with the guests. (And they brought a lot of drama to Fern Valley.) I don’t think it ever occurred to Jules that animal rights groups would show up in town to protest, and it added one more thing for Elaine and her team to worry about.

Why do all of Jules’s trailers and little houses have themes? My husband rebuilds classic cars, and we watch a lot of the refurb shows on TV. I found one a few years back where a couple restored vintage trailers. After watching the show, I went online and looked through all the photos of how people decorated them. Many were done to match the era when they were originally manufactured. I thought it would be fun to theme each one on Jules’s property for something in pop culture. There’s an alien Area 51 one, an Elvis one, and a Lucy and Desi one. Then, when Jules and Jake started to add tiny houses to the results, I had her theme each one of them for an author and his or her works.

Who was L. Frank Baum? I am such a Wizard of Oz fan that I had to decorate one of the tiny houses for the writer. (And it plays prominently in the second book, Film Crews and Rendezvous.) He wrote the original children’s fantasy series. I saw the 1939 version of the movie and became an instant fan. It wasn’t until years later that I found the books.

Why is J. P. Gross Jules’s archrival on the council? He is the town’s grumpy Gus who wants to complain or foil anything the council does. In the first book, he runs against Jules for town council, and he’s still miffed that he didn’t win the election.

Two tiger cubs go missing, and Jules suspects that the cubs’ owner sold them. She finds evidence of the sale on her security tapes. What does Jules do? The owner of the big cats tries to gaslight her when she asks about the missing cubs. He pretends that she is mistaken when she knows she has photos of the four fluff balls. Upset at his insistence that she is wrong, she pokes around on her security tapes and finds proof that something hinky is going on.

Bijou is a Jack Russell terrier. Does she have a rough, broken or smooth coat? Smooth. She’s based on my little JRT, Disney. Disney and her brother Riley (from the same litter) rule our house and torment the hordes of chipmunks and squirrels in our yard. They are such a fun breed with such energy!

What’s next for Jules and Bijou? I just signed a contract with Level Best Books for books four through six, so I’m so excited that Jules, Jake, and Bijou will have more adventures in Deadlines and Valentines, Teddy Bears and Ghostly Lairs, and Dangerous Links and Hijinks.