For many mystery fans like myself, it all began with Nancy Drew. So imagine
my delight when Penny
Pike, aka Penny Warner, responded to my request for an interview! Woo-
Hoo! Happy dance around my office ;) Because Penny’s mysteries have ties to
the young female sleuth who started it all—Penny wrote THE OFFICIAL NANCY DREW HANDBOOK.
But that’s far from the end of Penny’s mystery roots. Penny’s written three
incredible cozy mysteries series for every adult looking for a fun escape
into the world of intrigue.
Kym: Hi Penny! Congratulations on the release of your second novel in
you’re a Food Festival Mystery series, DEATH OF A CHOCOLATE
CHEATER.
Before we get into your Food Festival Mystery release, I’ve got to ask,
how did you get the opportunity to write THE
OFFICIAL NANCY DREW HANDBOOK? (For our readers, you’ve got to check out the Nancy
Drew Scrapbooks available for sale on Penny’s website!)
Penny: I was having lunch with my agent at Full Circle Literary and
happened to be taking notes in my Nancy Drew notebook. She asked if I might
be interested in doing the handbook and I jumped on it. I reread all the
first books in the series and realized how much I’d learned from reading
Nancy Drew as a kid.
Kym: You have an incredible background as a writer, from child
development books, to middle grade books, to mysteries and more. Can you
tell us what the common denominator is in your writing?
Penny: With my degrees in Child Development and Education (I’ve been
teaching Child Development for over 30 years at the college level), it made
sense to focus my non-fiction books on parenting, kids’ activities, and the
like. But when my own kids became teenagers, I started thinking about
murder…
Kym: LOL, I can totally relate to that! You’ve had a successful
career writing children’s mysteries, like Code Busters Club
series that was nominated for an Agatha Award and your Agatha Award Winner
for Best Juvenile Mystery, THE MYSTERY OF THE
HAUNTED CAVE. What do find
similar between writing children’s mysteries and cozy mysteries?
Penny: I don’t think there’s much difference, to tell you the truth.
Cozy mysteries avoid graphic violence, sex, and language, as do children’s
books, and both offer a good puzzle, exciting cliff-hangers, realistic
characters, and a sense of fun.
Kym: You’ve written a bunch of mysteries, and although I haven’t
picked up a copy (yet) of the Conner
Westphal Mysteries, I find the
concept of a deaf journalist living in a town called Flat Skunk very
appealing. Can you tell us what inspired the series?
Penny: My master’s degree in education focused on deafness, so I
thought, why not have a deaf protagonist solve the crimes for a change? I
was nervous about getting everything right, but I got a nice review from a
deaf publication who said he couldn’t tell “if the author was hearing or
deaf.” That made my day. The series is online and there are seven books
available, beginning with DEAD BODY LANGUAGE.
Kym: You write a lot about food. I can honestly say it’d be difficult
to read DEATH OF A
CHOCOLATE CHEATER without at least dreaming of the treats in the story.
Are you a true connoisseur of chocolate?
Penny: Does a cozy mystery have cats? You bet I do. I’m a big fan of
dark chocolate, with sea salt, and anything from Sees, but I’ll basically
eat or drink anything chocolate. I took the San Francisco Chocolate Tour and
learned—and ate—a lot.
Kym: The mystery takes place during the San Francisco Chocolate
Festival and I have to know, is it real? When is it, and if it is real, do
you go every year?
Penny: Actually, there are several chocolate festivals in San
Francisco and the Bay Area, so I combined various elements, but set it in
the Ghirardelli area, which is where the big event is held every September.
I go every chance I get, but it’s getting very crowded! You better stay
home…
Kym: Hmmm, not sure that I’ll take that particular advise;) You have
some incredible desserts in the book. (And the recipes are in the back!)
Where did you get the recipes?
Penny: My husband is the chef in the family so I trust his judgement
for recipes. I don’t cook much anymore, not since the kids left home and I
didn’t have to make mac and cheese all the time. But I’m a very good taster…
Kym: This is your second book in the series, can you tell our readers
what makes you’re Food Festival Mysteries different than other
cozies out there about food trucks?
Penny: There aren’t many books set in the food truck/food festival
world, and I thought that would be a fun venue. Plus I get to taste a lot of
street foods. Caveat: my series may be more fattening than other food
books.
Kym: What was your favorite part about researching this book?
Penny: Eating. ;)
Kym: LOL, ‘nuff said;) I love Darcy. She’s vulnerable, yet strong.
Snarky, yet polite. Beautiful, yet insecure. Where do you see her growth
taking her now that her career path isn’t going the way she expected?
Penny: I love her fun repartee with Jake and that “Moonlighting”-type
sexual tension, so I hope I can keep that going. She’s got to learn to cook
if she’s going to continue working with her Aunt Abby in the Big Yellow
School Bus. But she’d better start working on the Food Truck Cookbook she
keeps talking about.
Kym: OMG, did we just get a hint as to what’s to come? I have to say
that Aunt Abby’s son Dillon, had me the moment he walked in with Superman
boxers. How can you not love a computer hacker in boxers, who likes to wear
disguises? Is there someone who inspired his character?
Penny: I love him. He’s a composite of several young men I know, with
borderline Asperger’s syndrome. I know a lot about the disorder since I
taught special education for a while, and find it’s misunderstood—and
fascinating. It’s more interesting to me to see what he CAN do instead of
what he CAN’T do.
Kym: There is a murder scene that I saw coming, and I was thinking,
“No, she wouldn’t. No!” But you did and it actually turned out awesome. Did
the scene come naturally, or did you have to beat it to death? ;)
Penny: Remember that old Smothers Brothers song: “I fell into a vat
of chocolate…”
That was my inspiration. And I had so much fun with it. Who wouldn’t want to
die that way?
Kym: It has been years since I heard that song, may have to download
it! What’s next for Darcy and Jake, her on again off again boyfriend who
makes scrumptious cream puffs?
Penny: The Food Truck gang is heading to Apple Valley (Apple Hill,
Ca) to participate in the fall Apple Festival. Darcy gets lost in a
scarecrow maze, rides an electric scooter, and has her fill of apple donuts,
apple strudel, apple tarts, caramel apples, and anything else that has to do
with apples.
Kym: Can you tell us what you’re working on now?
Penny: DEATH OF A
BAD APPLE is done, so
I’m working on my sixth
Code
Busters Club
book, set on Angel
Island and features the immigration
station. My fifth Code Busters book, HUNT FOR THE MISSING SPY, will
come out next year and is set at the International Spy Museum in Washington
DC. Fun book to write.
Kym: You bring out the kid in me and make me want to pick up a copy!
Thank you for joining us on the Cozy Corner. DEATH OF A CHOCOLATE
CHEATER was a decadent treat to read. Can you tell our readers where
they can reach you on social media?
Penny: I’m on Facebook and would love to have anyone become a friend.
www.facebook.com/pennywarner and I’m on Twitter but I’m
too long-winded for that venue.
Thank you so much, Kym! What a great host you are!
-Penny Pike Warner
Kym: I hope you’ll pick up a copy of Penny’s DEATH OF A CHOCOLATE
CHEATER. If you have a taste for A Party
Planning Mystery, check
out Penny’s HOW TO DINE ON KILLER WINE. And if you have a special
kid in your life who loves mysteries, (or you like to escape to your
childhood every now and then like me) pick up Penny’s THE OFFICIAL NANCY DREW HANDBOOK or one of her Code Busters Club mysteries.
There are so many choices you can’t go wrong;)
Until next time, get cozy and read on!
Kym Roberts is a
retired detective sergeant who looks for passion, mystery and suspense in
every
book she reads and writes. She can be found on the web at kymroberts.com, on
Facebook at Kym Roberts (author) and on Twitter @kymroberts911. Look for her
latest release, DEAD MAN'S CARVE, A Tickled to Death Mystery on
Amazon. (All proceeds will be donated to wounded veterans)
No comments posted.