I love when established authors switch genres. As a reader I know they’ve been around the block a few times and they know their way between the sheets—of paper, people not cotton or satin! Today’s author was a complete joy to work with and she accommodated my scheduling debacle with class. Molly Harper is a talented storyteller who gets things done and she’s a nice person. It doesn’t get any better than that for a fangirl like me!
Kym: Welcome to The Cozy Corner on Fresh Fiction!
Molly: Thanks for having me! I’m happy to be here.
Kym: Congrats on your new release, A PROPOSAL TO DIE FOR. Your new heroine, Jasmine is a proposal planner, which to be honest, I had to look it up to see if young couples were really doing this, and to my surprise it really a thing. I might be a little out of touch on current wedding trends;) How did the idea for your new release come to life for you?
Molly: It all started with Jess’s job. As soon as I heard about proposal planning, I knew there was a character there. It’s really just someone who is professionally thoughtful. They listen to the client and discerns what they want, what their partner might want and leads them to the best idea that could work for them. Jess has trained herself to notice little things about her clients and uses those details to help them. It makes her an observant amateur investigator.
Kym: What was the hardest part of transitioning to a murder mystery for you?
Molly: I make jokes about murder and general creepiness but I am sort of squeamish about on-page violence. My mysteries aren’t “gentle” exactly, but they’re not going to be gory.
Kym: You created the perfect storm with the Jessamine’s client and former classmate, Diana who is a social media influencer having a meltdown over lack of internet access at their mountain retreat—great social media coverage was entire reason for hiring Jasmine in the first place. (Although two murders might send any bride-to-be off the deep end. LOL) Are you the type of person to want internet at your mountain retreat or do you embrace the dysconnectivity?
Molly: Once I adjust to the idea that I won’t have internet access, I am fine. I welcome the quiet and the lack of strain on my eyes. I am a bit of a workaholic, so having no phone access is good for me. I’m better able to connect with my family and focus on time with them.
Kym: Like many writers, you’ve crossed genres and mixed genres and jumped genres. Is it because your interests change, story ideas pop in your head, or is it purely a business plan?
Molly: I have so many different types of story ideas that I cannot be contained to one genre! I really am led by that. I don’t try to stick with genre or reshape my ideas based on market, which is probably a flaw for me as a businessperson.
Kym: I don’t see any flaws, just a creative gift for readers! Who is your favorite mystery author and why?
Molly: I am a Mary Higgins Clark reader from middle school on. She’s one of the greats of the genre and her stories are so universally approachable. I could speed through one of her books in a day or two. I loved them. My English teacher, whose textbook I kept my current read tucked into while I was supposed to be paying attention in class, did not.
Kym: LOL, I obtained a confession with little effort! Pay attention middle school teachers—you just may have a bestselling author in your midst. What is your writing process for one of your ongoing series and for a new series? Do you plot each chapter, each book, your series? How do you formulate your writing?
Molly: I fought the outlining process for a very long time, until my agent finally convinced me it would make my life easier. And she was right. I now use a probably unnecessarily complicated technique using color-coded index cards. I lay out the whole plot on my dining table so I can move the pieces around. Also, I use a plot arc outlined in Alexandra Sokoloff’s SCREENWRITING TRICKS FOR AUTHORS. I attended a workshop where she explained that all books can be traced along the story structure of ROMANCING THE STONE and it changed my life.
Kym: I love tips of the trade from authors, thanks for sharing that. You’ve had multiple books release in audible six months prior to print and e-book formats which is different from most authors. What made you decide to release your books in that order?
Molly: Audible has offered me several Audible Exclusive series, meaning they have sole rights to the audiobook for six months and then I’m free to release the print and eBook version. I have a lot of freedom with the world-building and the premise. With Mystic Bayou, I basically said, “What if we use all of the shifters?” And they said, “Awesome, let’s see what you do with it.” It’s been a lot of fun and I’m happy I get to spend more time on Starfall Point with the Moonshadow Cove series.
Kym: You have used Amanda Ronconi as the voice actor on all of your series and Teddy Hamilton joins your casts on the STARFALLS POINT series and your upcoming new release in May 2025 of the MOONSHADOW COVE series, THE WRONG WITCH TO HEX WITH. Did you get to choose Amanda and Teddy to work on your books, or was this a match made in the portal to audible book heaven?
Molly: I will always snap Amanda up if she is available. Listeners absolutely expect her when they dive into one of my audiobooks. She has such a strong grasp of my characters and my stories. She is the voice in my head when I write. I’m so happy she’s going to narrate A PROPOSAL TO DIE FOR.
I do receive samples of male narrators for the Audible Exclusive projects. I think Teddy does a great job with the huge cast of characters we throw at him and I can’t wait to see what he does with sea witches.
Kym: What is your go to snack when you’re under a crunch to meet your deadline?
Molly: If I don’t have a diet Dr. Pepper and peanut butter M&Ms nearby I will not meet my deadline. It’s science. I don’t make the rules.
Kym: Science and literature make the perfect couple! Do you have a favorite cozy corner you like to curl up and read in?
Molly: I do, but it’s more about the blanket than the chair. I have this giant plush blanket that’s super soft and squishy. I wrap myself up in it like a person burrito and don’t move for hours.
Kym: What are you working on now and will we see more of Jessamine and her “sexy chef, Dean Osbourne?”
Molly: As of right now, Jess and Dean’s story has been told. Though they may pop up again if I get to write more mysteries. And right now, I’m revising my second mystery, currently untitled. I’m working on the third title in my Moonshadow Cove series. The first title in the series, THE WRONG WITCH TO HEX WITH, comes out from Audible on May 29.
Kym: Where can our readers find you on the web?
Molly: My website, Instagram, Threads, BlueSky, TikTok, and YouTube.
Kym: Thank you for joining us on the Cozy Corner!
Molly: Thanks for having me! I hope your readers enjoy A PROPOSAL TO DIE FOR, which is coming out on April 8 in print, ebook and audio.
Until next month when Abbi Waxman visits the Cozy Corner, get cozy and read on!
(On a side note, I mistakenly added Molly’s publicist’s name on last month’s blog in my signoff instead of Molly. My sincere apologies to Molly and Loren.)
A former newspaper reporter with far too much snark for one soul, I recently fulfilled a lifelong goal of seilling my first novel- "Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs" - to Pocket Books. The first in a three-book series, "Nice Girls" tells the story of Jane Jameson, a recently fired librarian turned into a vampire after a tragic case of drunk deer-hunting. As Jane adjusts to her new un-life, she must find a way to "come out" to her parents as a vampire and sort out her feelings for her enigmatic sire, Gabriel. Oh, and she's the prime suspect in the lamest murder investigation in history.
A fast-paced, witty, and delightful new mystery about a marriage proposal planner whose biggest job yet is threatened by a dead body (or two).
Jessamine Bricker loves a plan. Contingency plans and pros-and-cons lists are her love language, and because of that, her proposal planning business is thriving. But with rent costs rising at her office building, Jess jumps at the chance to plan a proposal between her snobby high school classmate, Diana, and her very wealthy boyfriend, Trenton Tillard…the Fourth.
Roped into joining Diana’s ”pre-bridal” retreat at the exclusive Golden Ash resort, Jess hopes to fade into the background, get some work done, and maybe find some time to unwind. Their first day is anything but relaxing: Diana is furious about the mountain spa’s lack of cell phone reception, the couple next door argues constantly, and Jess swears she just saw a drug deal go down. To top it all off, she’s warned to stay out of the woods by the gruff and sexy chef, Dean Osbourne. Is this a retreat or a horror movie?
As Jess tries to do her job while placating the bride-to-be and her increasingly over-the-top demands, she spends more and more time with the resort owners, finding herself much more in tune with the laid-back Osbourne family than her social climbing “boss.” Between a meditation garden-related drowning and Jess’s discovery of a body in a sauna, it's clear that deadly secrets abound at the Golden Ash. Now it’s up to Jess to unravel the mysteries here in the mountains—before all her plans are cancelled…permanently.
Romance | Mystery [Berkley, On Sale: April 8, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9780593817322 / eISBN: 9780593817339]
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 on her website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
Her debut historical romance novel in The Scandalous Sisters series,THE RUINED DUCHESS releases April 2025 under the pseudonym Helene Matheson.
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