1--What is the title of your latest release?
WELCOME HOME TO MURDER, first in the Hometown Mysteries series
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Tessa Treslow has retired from the U.S. Army and gone home for a visit. She'd like to just hang out and work on old cars with her Aunt Edna, but she soon finds out that a visit home can be murder…
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Having lived in multiple areas of the US, I had been struggling with the location for the small town for my book, literally for years. That is, until a visit to my parents, who had recently moved back to my birthplace. Being in my original hometown, it struck me like a lightning bolt that this is where the story was supposed to be. It just felt right. So, a small rural town in the Palouse region of Idaho became Tessa's hometown too.
4--Would you hang out with your sleuth in real life?
Absolutely. She is my kind of people. I won't say she's me—she's much tougher—but sometimes I feel like she is who I could have been had I stayed in the military.
5--What are three words that describe your sleuth?
Tough, practical, bruised.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Oh, so much! Mostly about the publishing industry. One example for this book: do not marry yourself to a particular title.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I try not to edit too much as I draft as it clogs up the flow of words. Once that messy first draft is expelled from my brain, I go through it and edit before sending it to my trusted beta readers. Once I send it off to them, I give it a week or so to rest before printing and going through again on paper. Then, of course, go through the edits from my betas.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Definitely something I can't make at home. I occasionally crave a beet, goat cheese, and arugula salad since I don't have those things on hand at home. Usually though, it’s a dessert, like a Smith Island cake, a good mousse, or even a gooey brownie sundae.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I have a separate room with French doors, a desk, bookshelf, big chair with a quilt, and the TV, which is usually on for noise. Despite the desk, I do a lot of work in the chair. It is the only room where my husband has no vote on décor so there's a lot of my goofy stuff that I love in there. There's also a Scentsy, a couple plants, and a big painting of a moose that my parents bought me to celebrate this book!
10--Who is an author you admire?
There's so many! Do I have to pick just one? If I can be specific about a certain admirable aspect, I'll have to say Ellie Alexander, the Queen of Promotion. She's an amazing writer and just so good at the promo game!
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
The world-building in the Harry Potter series totally opened my eyes. I was amazed at what Rowling did, creating an entire world from her mind.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)
I was on the way to the airport to drop off my son to head back to college. We arrived with a lot of extra time, so we went to the Lincoln Memorial. I got the call right as we got back to the car, so I was standing next to the Potomac. It was actually the call that said one of the two publishers vying for the manuscript had decided to pass, but it wasn't a sad moment at all, as then I knew for sure who would be publishing it!
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Hard question! Considering my physical stack and eReader contents, I would say cozy mystery, especially historical cozies.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
I can't say I have a favorite. If I'm flipping channels, I always stop on Harry Potter, Star Wars or Marvel movies. I also love movies you have to see more than once to really get, like Inception or The Usual Suspects. The kind that makes your jaw drop at the idea of someone having written something like that.
15--What is your favorite season?
Fall. Sweaters, blankets, jeans, leaves, warm drinks…what's not to love?
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Nowadays, just a nice dinner out and being in the air conditioning. (It's in the summer.)
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I started watching Ghosts and Resident Alien. (I know, I'm late to the party!) That's my kind of humor and I sit there and kick myself that I didn't think of it first!
The most recent book that I couldn't stop thinking about after I finished it was The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. It deserves a second read, should I ever whittle down my TBR.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Italian. So much so, that I married one! (Well, he's half—but he came with good recipes.)
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Read, of course. Also, I love being out in nature. I walk my dog, though it’s a necessity for both of us. I do yoga a few times a week. When I get honest-to-goodness free time, I enjoy cross stitching. It's meditative.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
I have my second Aloha Lagoon book coming out in August, DEATH ON A CLIFF. After that, I have two more Hometown Mysteries and two more Aloha Lagoon mysteries on the way! So I'm not doing too much cross stitching right now.
From author Rosalie Spielman comes a heartfelt cozy mystery that proves sometimes coming home again can be murder...
Tessa Treslow never wanted a small town life. As soon as she graduated high school, she happily escaped her tiny town to join the U.S. Army, leaving New Oslo, Idaho, population 852, firmly behind her. Twenty years later, the hometown hero is finally ready to come back—even if she has just a visit with loved ones in mind while her family is hoping to convince her to stay for good.
With her fawn boxer dog, Vince, in tow, Tessa falls into the unsettlingly familiar small town life, helping out in her family's general store and her feisty Aunt Edna's auto body shop. But her peaceful homecoming is suddenly shattered when the dead body of a crooked con man turns up in her aunt's shop, and the police have some serious questions for the family. To make matters worse, the sheriff in charge just happens to be Tessa's ex-boyfriend... and things did not end well between them all those years ago. When it comes out that the con man was trying to get his hands on the family business, Tessa knows they're in trouble.
With her family in danger of being dragged away in handcuffs, Tessa becomes a woman on a mission to find the con man's killer. Between a slew of suspects, a meandering moose, and a handsome newcomer with his eye on Tessa, she has her work cut out for her. But when the killer changes tactics—putting everything her family holds dear in jeopardy—Tessa begins to realize what home really means to her. Can she be the hero for her hometown once again... before it's too late?
Mystery Cozy [Gemma Halliday Publishing, On Sale: June 7, 2022, e-Book, ISBN: 9781005777746 / eISBN: 9781005777746]
Rosalie Spielman enjoys moving in order to clean out her closets. After meeting her husband when they were both in the Army, they moved eleven times in twenty-four years, to multiple states and three countries. Somewhere along the way, Rosalie discovered that she could make other people laugh with her writing. She finds joy in giving people a humorous escape from the real world. Her cozy mystery novels are set in locales that have chickens, such as rural Idaho and sunny Kauai.
Rosalie is an active member of Sisters in Crime and is represented by Dawn Dowdle of the Blue Ridge Literary Agency. She currently lives in Maryland with her husband and four creatures—two teens and two fur babies.
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