Caleb Wygal joins us for this week’s The Cozy 52 interview. Read on to learn more about his cozy mystery series based in Myrtle Beach and Clark, the male protagonist, plus find out what inspired Caleb to write, who his favourite authors are, and where the only place he’s been outside of the US is!
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 Caleb Wygal
NAME: Caleb Wygal
LIST ALL YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES: I have one series (currently, but at least one spin-off 3-book series is planned), The Myrtle Beach Mystery Series. At least 10 books are planned. Currently, they include (in order) Death on the Boardwalk, Death Washes Ashore, Death on the Golden Mile (8/23), and Death on the Causeway (early 2023).
HOW ARE YOUR COZY MYSTERIES PUBLISHED? All traditionally published through Franklin/Kerr Press.
The Q&A
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF
I live in Myrtle Beach, SC with my wife and 4 ½ year-old son. I stayed home with him until he started preschool two months ago. While I was a stay-at-home dad, I would wake up sometimes before sunrise and peck away at a keyboard with a cup of coffee beside me. Once he woke up, most days were full daddy daycare until he went to bed that night due to my wife’s work schedule. I’ve written six, soon to be, seven books. Three in the Myrtle Beach Mystery Series.
LIST THREE FUN FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF THAT WE WOULDN’T READ IN YOUR ‘OFFICIAL’ BIO.
- I still enjoy building LEGOs as much as my son. He brings out the kid in me.
- I once threw and hit a lion in the butt with a stick at a zoo because he wouldn’t stand up and face us.
- I’ve been out of the United States one time in my life for three hours when we visited the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE COZY MYSTERIES?
I’ve always enjoyed the genre without realizing what a “cozy” was. Clean mysteries with a touch of humor. I’ve always had, I feel, a good sense of humor. In the past, I wrote action-adventure novels told from a third-person perspective. I found it difficult to inject humor into those, but with this Myrtle Beach series, everything is told through the eyes of Clark Thomas. I can write more naturally this way. It’s easy to inject a line that might make a person laugh much easier. I also like the puzzle aspect of murder mysteries. That is, setting up a murder scene and having Clark try to unravel it while dealing with a more serious issue in his personal life.
WHAT SUBGENRE(S) OR THEMES OF COZY MYSTERIES DO YOU WRITE?
Bookstore/Coffee Shop
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES. WHAT INSPIRES YOUR SERIES?
When we moved to Myrtle Beach in January 2019, I was in the middle of writing a third action-adventure novel. My son was at an age where he stopped wanting to take naps in his crib. He needed his afternoon naps, and daddy especially needed his afternoon naps. So, I’d put him in his car seat and drive up and down Ocean Boulevard while he slept. It was during one of these trips that I had the idea of basing a series on the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk and the greater Grand Strand area. I felt I could give the books a small-town feeling, despite the millions of annual tourists. I’ve long had an interest in owning my own small bookstore and had done some research into them. I used that knowledge to create Clark, whose wife passed away two years prior to the start of the series. When readers first meet him in Death on the Boardwalk, he’s stuck in a rut, going through the everyday motions of life without joy. Then he finds a body and discovers something about his dead wife that kicks him out of it. That mystery is central to the series, but each title has its own self-contained mystery for Clark to deal with.
WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE LOVE TO READ COZY MYSTERIES?
I think they love the puzzle aspect without realizing it, but it’s also the characters, the locations, and the surprises met along the way that keep readers coming back again and again.
ASIDE FROM BEING AN AUTHOR, ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THE COZY COMMUNITY IN ANY OTHER WAY?
Not actively, but I’ve helped several aspiring authors find their way to getting a book written or published. I’m always happy to lend a helping hand.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS?
John Grisham, John Lescroart, Agatha Christie (of course), Clive Cussler, Greg Iles.
IF YOU WERE MAROONED ON A DESERTED ISLAND, WHAT 3 BOOKS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU?
If I’m on an island, I would want to read an escape from it, so, in no particular order: Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, and Atlantis Found by Clive Cussler. (Although Jurassic Park might make me afraid of being on a deserted island)
DO YOU HAVE ANY PROJECTS COMING UP THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?
The third book of The Myrtle Beach Mystery Series, Death on the Golden Mile, releases on August 23rd. I’m a quarter of the way through writing the first draft of the fourth book, Death on the Causeway. I have at least ten books planned in the series.
The Quickie 5
- FAVOURITE FOOD: ribs
- BEVERAGE OF CHOICE: old-fashioned
- MOST PRIZED POSSESSION: A little stuffed animal named “Gorillagram” that I’ve had since I was a little boy.
- SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer (one reason we moved to Myrtle Beach)
- FAVOURITE VACATION SPOT? Destin, Florida
To keep up to date with Caleb Wygal online, you can connect with him on:
