Barbara Barrett joins us for this week’s The Cozy 52 interview. Read on to find out more about her books, her favourite authors, and how Mah Jongg inspired one of her mystery series.
Who or What is The Cozy 52? Each week I will be sharing an interview with someone involved with Cozy Mysteries – an author, blogger, Facebook Group host, podcaster, cover designer – so that we can showcase this amazing community! I hope you’ll discover some new authors, plus learn more about what goes on behind the scenes with the people who write, publish and promote cozy mysteries!
Introducing Barbara Barrett
NAME: Barbara Barrett
LIST ALL YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES:
- The Mah Jongg Mystery series (9 books)
- Nailed It Home Reno Mysteries series (6 book, 7th out this fall)
HOW ARE YOUR COZY MYSTERIES PUBLISHED? self-published
The Q&A
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF
I am a retired human resources management specialist who worked for Iowa State government for over thirty years. I started writing novels when I was still working and my two children were grown. My first book was published years later in 2012. Since then, I’ve published 26 novels (15 cozy mysteries and 11 contemporary romance) and two contemporary romance novellas. I have two grown children, 8 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Although I grew up in Iowa and spent my working years there, I am currently a resident of Florida and spend my summers between Iowa and Minnesota.
LIST THREE FUN FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF THAT WE WOULDN’T READ IN YOUR ‘OFFICIAL’ BIO.
- I played the violin throughout junior and senior high and was concertmistress for two years in high school
- I write with the TV on in the background. This is a habit I developed in high school when I was studying and never seemed to break.
- We haven’t travelled outside the US since COVID. Before that, our last trip was a motor tour of Germany.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START WRITING? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE COZY MYSTERIES?
I started writing to avoid a midlife crisis once my kids were grown. I felt the need for something more in my life, and since my teachers and later my employers liked my writing, I decided to try my hand at writing fiction. I quickly discovered it was a lot different from the technical writing I’d been doing. I write romance at first because I thought there was a larger market for that genre than anything else I might try. I wrote three contemporary romance trilogies, two for a small digital publisher and the third on my own before I told myself it was time to return to the genre of my heart, mysteries. I’m a long-time fan of Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen and I was also influenced by “Murder, She Wrote.”
WHAT SUBGENRE(S) OR THEMES OF COZY MYSTERIES DO YOU WRITE?
The Mah Jongg Mysteries fall into the “hobby” category, although “games” is more appropriate. I’d also characterize it as small town and friends and family.
The Nailed It Home Reno mysteries series covers both home renovation and interior design and police procedural, since the heroine, Rowena Summerfield, is a former homicide investigator now turned interior designer who is occasionally employed by the local police force as a consultant working with her former partner.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES. WHAT INSPIRES YOUR SERIES?
The Mah Jongg Mystery series features four retired seniors who met playing the game and have become fast friends ever since. They just keep bumping into dead bodies and feel compelled to help the authorities find the killers. They rotate the lead role from book to book. When I first retired and moved to Florida, I didn’t know anyone. I owe it to Mah Jongg for introducing me to a fun group of friends.
The Nailed It Home Reno Mysteries series features a homicide investigator who took a disability retirement when a serious auto accident kept her from working full time in the field. Now an interior designer, she and her daughter own a business that rehabs homes for resale. The idea of a mother and daughter operating this type of business came to me from the HGTV series, “Good Bones,” but that’s where the resemblance ends.
WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE LOVE TO READ COZY MYSTERIES?
Cozies are essentially puzzles, which people love to solve, especially if they can do it before the real culprit is revealed. Cozies don’t include the on-the-page bloodshed or violence that turns off those who otherwise love a mystery.
ASIDE FROM BEING AN AUTHOR, ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THE COZY COMMUNITY IN ANY OTHER WAY?
I have enjoyed sharing my insights about my work and cozies while participating on various panels at reader conferences (Malice Domestic and Left Coast Crime). I’ve also taught classes on writing the novel and the publishing industry as part of my local town’s Lifelong Learning program.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS?
Those I’ve met or know personally: Sparkle Abbey, MaryLee Ashford, Lucy Lakestone, Maggie March, Clara McKenna and Nancy Coco.
Those I would or would have liked to meet: Agatha Christie, John Davenport, William Kent Kruger, Louise Penny.
IF YOU WERE MAROONED ON A DESERTED ISLAND, WHAT 3 BOOKS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU?
- The Bible
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
- Still Life by Louise Penny, Book 1 in the Inspector Gamache series
DO YOU HAVE ANY PROJECTS COMING UP THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?
Book 7 in the Nailed It Home Reno Mysteries series, Wrenched at the Reindeer Run, should be out in October.
The Quickie 5
- FAVOURITE FOOD: Sausage pizza
- BEVERAGE OF CHOICE: Diet Coke
- MOST PRIZED POSSESSION: Besides my wedding and engagement rings, my phone and my laptop, they all go almost everywhere with me
- FAVOURITE SEASON? Fall
- FAVOURITE VACATION SPOT? The Orlando, Florida area
To keep up to date with Barbara Barrett online, you can connect with her on:
Another great Cozy 52 interview! I’ve enjoyed the Mah Jongg Mystery series. I need to read Barnett’s Nailed It Home Reno Mysteries!