1--What is the title of your latest release?
DONUT DISTURB
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
This is the 15th book in my Bakeshop Mystery series featuring a lush wedding in Ashland’s charming Lithia Park, delectable donuts, and a side of murder.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Lithia Park in the Shakespearean hamlet is known as Ashland’s crown jewel. It’s the perfect setting for a late spring wedding. The park is a real place that I walk through nearly every morning. I love watching celebrations of all kinds—from birthday parties to graduations to weddings and everything in between. I’ve been waiting for a chance to have Jules cater a park wedding and this book was the perfect opportunity to bring it to life on the page.
4--Would you hang out with your sleuth in real life?
Absolutely! I love her passion for food and community, her quirky sense of humor, and her romantic tendencies. Plus, I would totally want to sleuth out a killer with her. She’s not particularly great at figuring out whodunit, which is one of the things I adore most about her. Because after all the odds of a pastry chef solving the crime before the professionals is a stretch.
5--What are three words that describe your sleuth?
Ethereal, artistic, kind.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Since this series is set in Ashland, home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, it has touches of Shakespeare. I loved getting to do a deep dive into Elizabethan wedding customs while working on this book. Most of my research didn’t make it onto the page, but it was fascinating to compare how times have changed and how some things like the food and feasts of celebrations have remained pretty steady over the decades.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I don’t edit at all as I write a first draft. I keep a notebook (or notebooks on hand) and jot down everything I know I want to change or fix later. I write a terrible first draft in about six weeks. Then I let it rest for a little while and come back to it with fresh eyes to start the editing process. I really believe that the editing part of my brain and the creative part of my brain serve two different purposes and it’s important to shut off my inner critic when I’m working on getting the story down. Once I’ve completed a first draft, then the editing voice can take over.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Do I have to pick one? Since I write a series set in a bakeshop it’s problematic because I want to taste everything that Jules and the team at Torte are baking. If I have to choose, I’ll go with my latest food obsession—a cardamom latte and a pistachio raspberry croissant.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
My office is filled with trinkets of inspiration. I have a poster of Shakespearean insults, a coffee flavor wheel, photos of Ashland, lots of pictures of delectable pastries, a vintage typewriter, Bakeshop candles, so many Sharpies, and books, books, and more books.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Ursula Le Guin. She paved the way for women in genres like sci-fi that have been traditionally dominated by men. Her writing was also such a blend of brilliant page-turning storytelling with deep reflections about our world and culture mixed in. If you haven’t read The Left Hand of Darkness, run to your library or local bookstore and get a copy right now!
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Farewell To Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Huston. It’s a beautifully poignant memoir about the Japanese American experience during World War II. I read it in college, and it has stayed with me all these years. Not only is the writing incredible, and the story filled with hope, despite Wakatsuki’s life being completely turned upside down, but it was also the first time I had learned that internment camps were basically in my backyard. Living in the PNW, that part of our region’s history had never been taught in my high school classes, yet internment camps like Manzanar were mere miles away. For me, this book is such an example of why reading is critical in terms of helping to shape our worldview and understanding.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)
My agent had told me that it could take a while to hear back from editors, so I had prepared myself for the waiting game, but was shocked when he called less than two weeks after he had submitted my book proposal and had an offer for not one but three books! I remember trying to play it cool and then dancing around the living room and screaming after we hung up. I floated around for a few days and then I realized I actually had to write the second book.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I know this is going to sound cliché, but I don’t have a favorite genre. I’m a voracious reader and read pretty much anything and everything I can get my hands on. No surprise I love mysteries, but I also love historical fiction, sci-fi, romance, magical realism, thrillers, memoirs, and nonfiction.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Sliding Doors or The Holiday or Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version with Colin Firth)
15--What is your favorite season?
Fall, glorious fall, with those sepia-toned colors and warming spices, crackling fires, cool evening breezes, crisp leaves, and deliciousness simmering on the stove.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
My perfect birthday starts with a coffee outside on the deck, followed by a long hike through the mountains. Then an afternoon spent in the kitchen with my family, listening to music, making a delicious dinner, and baking something sweet. Dinner under the stars, a glass of wine, and a bonfire to cap off the night.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I highly, highly recommend the podcast Dead Eyes. The premise is that Tom Hanks fired actor Connor Radcliff for having “dead eyes” and Connor is on a quest to figure out if he really has dead eyes and what that even means. It’s funny and touching and such an authentic look into what it means to be creative and put yourself out there again and again.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Anything that has cilantro as a key ingredient. Specifically, I love a spicy, fresh salsa or a creamy curry, hummus with naan and a sprinkling of cilantro—yum. I know it’s a controversial spice, but you will never find my kitchen without it.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Hike, swim, bake, read, play board games, watch movies outside, and spend time with friends and family.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
Book 16 of the Bakeshop Mysteries MUFFIN BUT THE TRUTH comes out in December. This installment will have Jules and the team at Torte catering a glamping retreat on the Rogue River. I’m currently working on book 17 which is going to be set at Halloween.
Bakeshop Mystery #15
Love is in bloom in Ashland, Oregon. The Shakespearean hamlet is bursting with fresh spring energy. Fragrant lilacs and the sweet aroma of vanilla cake fill the air as everyone in town gathers at Lithia Park for the celebration of the year—Thomas and Kerry’s wedding.
It’s a picture perfect day. Guests gather on picnic blankets in front of the bandshell to watch Kerry walk down the aisle and wed Ashland’s favorite detective in training, Thomas. Jules and her team at Torte have been tasked with catering the outdoor reception and everything is going according to plan, until a wedding crasher shows up.
The uninvited guest isn’t just someone looking to score a free glass of champagne. It’s Kerry’s estranged father who is supposed to be behind bars. Kerry is distraught. Jules vows to do everything she can to make sure that there are no other surprises on her friend’s big day. But when the bassist for Heart Strings, the wedding band, is found stabbed with the blunt end of his instrument Jules’s promise takes on new meaning. Now she’ll have to slice through the five tiered cake and a bevy of potential suspects in order to track down a killer before they turn the knife on her.
Mystery Amateur Sleuth | Mystery Culinary | Mystery Cozy [St. Martin's Paperbacks, On Sale: June 28, 2022, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250789464 / eISBN: 9781250789471]
Ellie Alexander is a voracious storyteller and a lover of words and all things bookish. She believes that stories have the ability to transport and transform us. With over twenty-five published novels and counting, her goal is to tell stories that provide points of connection, escape, and understanding.
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