We Need More Olivia Blacke Books!
Cozy mystery author Olivia Blacke sits down and discusses writing, books, music, fairs, sisters, coffee, tea, hockey, and cows at the Cozy Corner.
I love coming across a podcast featuring an author I haven’t read. I love it even more when that author is funny, interesting and a genuinely nice person. That’s what I discovered one afternoon, and when I read her book, I loved today’s author even more. But the true test came when I reached out to Olivia Blacke and found out she is the exactly the kind of author you want to meet at a book signing. She’s down to earth, relatable, and thoroughly entertaining. Just read on and find out!
Kym: Hi Olivia! Congrats on July 25th release of your second Record Shop Mystery, A FATAL GROOVE. Can you tell our readers a bit about your three sisters, Juni, Tansy and Maggie who run this fantastic record shop with a coffee shop in its midst called Sip &Spin Records which is located in the outskirts of Austin, Texas. What makes these three work so great together and do you have siblings you’ve worked with before?
Olivia: Juni, the main character in A Fatal Groove, is the youngest of three sisters. She’s very much the baby of the family. Maggie, the middle sister, is the practical, organized one that balances the books. Tansy, the oldest, is a little bossy at times (what older sister isn’t?) but she also feels like she’s responsible for everyone. I think they work so well together because they balance each other out and they genuinely care about their family. My own sister is great, but if we worked together, we might end up murdering each other instead of solving murders together!
Kym: LOL, I think my sisters and I fit in with your reality of sisterhood—no working together in our future! In the series you have teas and coffees named after songs such as Java (Johnnie) Be Good. Do you take suggestions from readers or are they only your creation?
Olivia: While drafting Book #3, Rhythm and Clues, I thought it would be fun to open the coffee names up to readers and got absolutely flooded with fantastic suggestions that I ended up using throughout Rhythm and Clues (and gave them credit for in the acknowledgements.) Additionally, a few suggestions had already been used in A Fatal Groove, or were improvements on drinks already in A Fatal Groove, so I gave them their due credit as well. One of my favorites was “I Will Always Love Brew.”
Kym: That is adorable;) You said on Shelved Books Podcast that you have playlists for your books. I do the same thing! In fact, my phone didn’t have any country songs on it until I wrote my Book Barn Mysteries and I’ve found that I actually like some country music after that. Are there any songs on your playlists that you would have never listened to before you wrote a particular book? What songs grace your playlist for A Fatal Groove?
Olivia: I counted it up and there are over 40 songs or bands mentioned in A Fatal Groove! If it was a playlist, it would be all over the place, from The Rembrandts (“I’ll Bean There For Brew”) to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s lovely version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” I can’t think of songs I’ve never listened to before that I used, but there are songs I’d already heard that have special meaning now. “Hey Jealousy” will always and forever be Teddy’s song, and John Legend’s “All of Me” will always be Beau’s.
Kym: Love that! In A Fatal Groove the mayor is murdered at the annual Bluebonnet Festival. Have you been to the Bluebonnet Festival in Burnet, Texas? After reading about your raffle prize at the fair I looked up the festival name and was pleasantly surprised to see one actually existed. It’s kinda fitting since the bluebonnet, not the yellow rose, is the state flower of Texas. I’ve never been to the real festival, but I can say I’ve been to a fictional one;)
Olivia: Fairs are a Big Deal in Texas. I’ve been to the State Fair, several Renaissance Fairs, county fairs, and the list goes on. And every spring, we would always go in search of the best bluebonnet patches to take our pictures in. I wanted to set A Fatal Groove at the Cedar River Bluebonnet Festival because there’s a special sort of magic (and LOTS of food) to be found at local fairs.
Kym: LOL, the annual bluebonnet photos! (FYI readers, don’t step on the blue bonnets, they will not regrow the next year if they’re trampled or cut.) In an interview on the Beachbum Bookworm Podcast you said your editor, “wanted more cow” in the series. Please tell me that is a reference to the classic SNL skit with Will Farrel and Christopher Walken’s cowbell! (we have two cowbells—no cows—because of that skit) Will Buttercup continue to be a part of the cast and how much personal experience do you have with cows?
Olivia: Of course it was a reference to more cowbell. We need more cowbell! Buttercup the accidental cow started off as a joke that took on a life of her own, and even helped solve a mystery. She does have a cameo in Book #3, Rhythm and Clues, because she’s part of the family now. Growing up in Texas, I have a healthy respect for any enormous animal that’s armed with horns, hooves, and attitude, but I’ve also met cows that were more like puppies, and Buttercup is modeled after a sweet steer named George.
Note from Olivia:
Readers who want to see this communication between Olivia and her editor, only need to look on Twitter;)
https://twitter.com/oliviablacke/status/1670066860459425798?s=20
Kym: OMG, George! Another question that came to mind when I watched the two podcasts you were on was the fantastic bookcase that is neatly stacked and completely organized behind you throughout the interviews. Did you conduct the interview from your home office and when you write is your desk as neat as your bookcases? And where are those notecards; do you keep them after you’ve finished the book?
Olivia: That bookshelf is my happy place! While I do the majority of my reading through e-books, I can’t resist the allure of physical books, and many of the books on my shelf are autographed, which brings me great joy. My desk isn’t nearly as organized. It’s usually covered in stuffed animals, half-finished crochet projects, notes on whatever book I’m working on, and junk food. As for the notecards, I usually keep the cards until a project is written and then force myself to toss them (or turn them into confetti!) Otherwise, I’d be drowning in colorful notecards.
Kym: Who doesn’t love confetti! (As long as I’m at my bestie’s house when it’s used, I love it;) Do ideas pop into your head throughout the day and if so, how do you remember them later when you sit down to work at night? Do you carry blank notecards with you?
Olivia: When ideas pop into my head, I use the notes app on my phone or whatever scrap of paper is closest. That way, when I transcribe it onto a notecard later, I can expand on the idea until it becomes a full-fledged scene, character arc, or plot point.
Kym: Who do you fan girl over the most, a writer, a musician, a hockey player (sorry, I grew up in Boston so I’m a Bruins fan) or someone else completely?
Olivia: Don’t get me started about hockey and hockey players! The Java B Goode song you mentioned earlier? It was inspired by the Capitals’ John Carlson’s goal song, “Johnny B. Goode,” and I’m pretty sure there’s gonna be a shoutout to Tom Wilson in the Rhythm and Clues acknowledgements, since that book starts at a hockey game. But, yeah, I completely fangirl over writers. I’ll buy tickets for and stand in line to get books signed by my favorite writers, even if we’re friends IRL.
Kym: Ditto;) Do you remember what the first vinyl record was that you bought and do you have a vinyl collection now? (I may have some classic Beatles, The Who, The Jackson Five— oh, and don’t forget Donnie and Marie—lol)
Olivia: I grew up with vinyl records in the house and spent countless hours poring through used record stores as a teenager. Ironically, I’ve lost two decent record collections. One warped in the back of a moving van and the other was stolen. Sadly, much of my music is on my computer these days to save space.
Kym: I cover all kinds of mysteries, so I’m really interested in your new darkly humorous supernatural murder mystery series with your first book, Afterlife, being released fall of 2024. (And if your Hockey cozy gets published, I would love to feature it—female sports fans want sports books!) Can you tell our readers about Afterlife and the series?
Olivia: First off, I fully agree we need more sports cozies! Let’s make that happen. Afterlife (not a cozy, FYI) follows a recently deceased ghost and the current (living) occupant of her Boston apartment—don’t worry, there are plenty of Bruins fans in the building! - as they team up to solve a series of seemingly unrelated murders in the neighborhood. It’s Finlay Donovan is Killing It meets Only Murders in the Building, with a paranormal twist. Look for the first book in the series, Afterlife, fall of 2024 from Minotaur.
Kym: Awesome, can’t wait! What’s next for Juni and her sister in the Record Shop Mysteries?
Olivia: In Rhythm and Clues, the next book in the Record Shop Mysteries, Juni and her sisters are struggling to keep Sip & Spin afloat. When the sketchy financier who’s trying to buy them out ends up dead in front of their vinyl records shop during a torrential thunderstorm and the overflowing river spits out a macabre surprise, Juni finds herself swimming in trouble. The rhythm is gonna get you March 26, 2024 from St. Martin’s Paperbacks.
Kym: Looking forward to it! Thank you for sitting down and talking mysteries with us at the Cozy Corner! Where can our readers find you on social media?
Olivia: Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or check out my website, where you can join my newsletter for first look at updates, giveaways, and exclusive offers.
Until next month when Lucy Burdette sits down and talks food with us, get cozy and read on!
It’s springtime in Cedar River, Texas. The annual Bluebonnet Festival is brewing and the whole town is in harmony. Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie thought opening Sip & Spin Records was going to be their biggest hurdle, but the Frappuccino hits the fan when the mayor drops dead—poisoned by their delicious coffee.
Since Tansy was the one to brew the coffee, and Juni was the unfortunate citizen who stumbled upon the mayor’s body, the sisters find themselves in hot water. Family is everything to the Jessups, so with Tansy under suspicion, the sisters spring into action.
Between the town festivities, a good old-fashioned treasure hunt, and an accidental cow in the mix, Juni will have to pull out all the stops to find the mayor’s killer.
Mystery Cozy [St. Martin's Paperbacks, On Sale: July 25, 2023, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250860101 / ]
OLIVIA BLACKE (she/her), author of the Record Shop Mysteries, beginning with Vinyl Resting Place, and the Brooklyn Murder Mysteries, finally found a way to put her Criminology degree to good use by writing quirky, unconventional, character-driven cozy mysteries. Olivia is a little nerdy, a lot awkward, and just the right amount of weird. She is a recovering ex-Texan who resides with her husband, Potassium, and Baileycakes, their roly-poly rescue puggle. When not writing, reading, or spending way too much time on social media, Olivia enjoys Amigurumi crochet, scuba diving, collecting tattoos, watching hockey, and baking dog cookies. She wants to be a unicorn when she grows up.
Kym Roberts writes by day and is a pro-surfer in her dreams by night. Her humor is often raunchy, her jokes are often bad, but her hunger for a story keeps the adventures coming fast. Experience the thrill & catch the wave of passion, mystery, and suspense with her at kymroberts.com, on Facebook @KymRobertsAuthor911, and on Twitter @kymroberts911.
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