I’m so happy to share this interview I did with Joyce Tremel. I initially connected with Joyce on Twitter from my food blog account – we chatted about our mutual admiration of hockey, beer, and whisky-loving husbands. Joyce did this interview for me just before my food blog went on hiatus so I never had a chance to post it. I contacted her after I launched this blog and she updated her answers and here we are! I loved her Brewing Trouble series (you can read my review of the first book, To Brew or Not to Brew here) and hope that one day Book 4 will make it’s way into the world! In the meantime, enjoy this Q&A!
Tell us a little about yourself.
There’s not much to tell! I’ve been writing a long time, but the Brewing Trouble books are my first to be published. I’m married with two grown sons and two grandsons. I’m a native Pittsburgher, and my husband and I now live in the beautiful Laurel Highlands in Pennsylvania.
List three fun facts about yourself that we wouldn’t read in your ‘official’ bio.
- I have a second degree black belt in Taekwondo.
- My favorite era is the 1940s.
- I love to iron.
You were a police secretary for ten years – was all that proximity to crime the main reason you started writing mystery novels?
Not really. I’ve loved mysteries ever since I picked up my first Nancy Drew book. I love trying to figure out “whodunit.” Working at the PD helped with the amount of research I have to do. I like to get the procedures correct.
Why did you choose to write cozy mysteries (and not police-driven mysteries or more hard-boiled ones)?
It kind of evolved. The first couple of books I wrote were more procedural-like. I had a character who was an ex-police officer. After I lost my job at the police department, I wrote one with a police secretary protagonist. That one was a lot of fun to write and it got me an agent, but it straddled the procedural and cozy categories. The editor at Berkley liked my writing enough to ask if I’d be interested in writing a cozy series. That’s when I came up with the Brewing Trouble series.
Who are your favourite mystery writers?
That’s a tough question because there are so many! Julia Spencer Fleming, who writes the Clare Fergusson/Russ VanAlstyne series. Another one is Annette Dashofy, who is a good friend of mine. She writes the Zoe Chambers mysteries. Others are Julie Hyzy, Susan Elia MacNeal, and so many more.
Why did you decide to base your cozy food mystery series around a craft brewery?
When the editor at Berkley asked if I’d be interested in writing a cozy, I wanted to come up with something that hadn’t been done before. I may have been drinking a beer at the time, so a brew pub seemed like the perfect thing.
Name a few of your favourite breweries and beers?
Another hard question! There are so many good craft breweries in the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania area. I don’t want to single anyone out. Besides, I haven’t tried them all! I like wheat beers and brown ales, and you can’t go wrong with a good stout or porter. I don’t care for IPAs. They’re too bitter for me. I also don’t care for the latest trend—sour beers. I don’t mind fruity—I just don’t want to drink something that tastes like a liquid Jolly Rancher.
Jake, from your books, is a great chef and a welcome addition to the brewery. Do you have some favourite foods you like to enjoy with beer?
I usually just have water with meals and have the beer later (or earlier). I can give some pairing suggestions though. A good Lager goes well with pizza. A wheat beer pairs well with most sandwiches, like turkey or chicken. A brown ale with hamburgers, or heavier fare like bratwurst. Stouts and porters are awesome with chocolate. There’s a recipe for caramel pecan brownies in Tangled Up in Brew that are incredible with a stout. For a double whammy, try a chocolate stout.
If you weren’t writing about craft brewing, what do you think you would be writing about instead?
I have lots of ideas. I have three proposals written for new series, two of which are set in the 1940s. My fingers are crossed that at least one of them sells.
So far, there have been three books in the ‘Brewing Trouble’ series – any plans for more books?
Berkley hasn’t extended my contract for any more books. I have part of a fourth book written and I’m hoping I get to finish it someday. There’s a sample of the first chapter on my website. In the meantime, I’m working on other things, like the proposals I mentioned above.
Thanks for having me, and thanks for the great questions! This has been fun!
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What are some of your favourite Joyce Tremel books? Was there anything in this interview that you found interesting or surprising?
