Judith Dickenson Ackaret joins us for this week’s The Cozy 52 interview. Read on to find out more about her books, her paper crafts, and make sure you don’t miss her 3 Fun Facts about herself (I’m serious, they are fantastic!
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 Judith Dickenson Ackaret
NAME: Judith Dickenson Ackaret
LIST ALL YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES: Available at Amazon (Kindle Unlimited, Paperback, Ebook)
- Scored for Life (Book 1 of the Die-cut Cozy Mystery Series) 2018
- Glued to See You (Book 2 of the Die-cut Cozy Mystery Series 2020
- Mysterious Papercuts (Book 3 of the Die-cut Cozy Mystery Series) 2021
HOW ARE YOUR COZY MYSTERIES PUBLISHED? Self-published
The Q&A
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF.
I have been writing from the moment I learned to put letters on paper. In grade school, I wrote and directed plays, created comic books, and teamed up with my friend to write short stories. My passion was to work behind the scenes in the police field, and after some years in the accounting world, I was hired by a police department, spending the majority of my career in the Criminal Investigations Division as a Criminal Records Technician. In that position, I became a Composite Artist, transcriber, and a youth peer court advisor. My love of paper-crafting has exploded from a small desk area to a full-blown two room studio (some of you can relate). A line of vintage greeting cards and a love of box designing (which I learned from Linda Parker in the UK) is my current distraction from writing. (There is a box design sitting on my desk that I am trying to ignore so I can finish this interview)! Along with three adorable cats, my husband Jerry and I spend a lot of time watching whales from our home on the Central Oregon Coast in the Pacific Northwest.
LIST THREE FUN FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF THAT WE WOULDN’T READ IN YOUR ‘OFFICIAL’ BIO.
Only three fun facts? I guess I can try and keep it short…or not.
- I love researching my family tree. One branch of the tree that I have been researching a lot is that of my Great-Grandfather Charles Conklin Wooster. He was the coachman for Leland Stanford (Stanford University) from around 1870 to 1891 (at the death of Leland Stanford, he became the coachman for Jane Stanford). Emily Dickinson and Amelia Earhart are found to be distant relatives too!
- My sister lived in England for two years and I visited her for three weeks, touring on a sixty-foot canal boat named Praxis. When we were not on the inland waterways, we traveled by car to Cornwall and other areas in the south of England. We toured Arundel Castle, where my mother heard maniacal laughter coming from a dungeon room we had just exited. We were the last of our party to exit the room and no one was in the room (I checked)! Then later on in a town called Boscastle, my mother and I shared a B&B room. I heard my mother making strange noises. I shouted at her to get her attention. My mother told me she saw a ghost of a little girl with long blond hair trying to reach me while I slept. I immediately took the Don Knotts approach to the situation and threw the covers over my head and shook until dawn!
- As a teenager in junior high school, I wrote letters to famous people, which is why I have two letters from Gene Roddenberry on original Star Trek stationery (in the original envelopes). I also have a letter from J. Edgar Hoover while he was the Director of the FBI. He actually responded to people who wrote to him.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START WRITING? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE COZY MYSTERIES?
My inspiration for writing came from a phone call from my sister, Deborah Menenberg (Uniquely Stella-a historical fiction), who informed me that she was going to write a book. After we ended our conversation, I looked at my husband and said, “I could write a book!” Four months later, I finished my first manuscript of Scored for Life. It was published three months later. My sister’s book published two years after that. No sibling rivalry there!
WHAT SUBGENRE(S) OR THEMES OF COZY MYSTERIES DO YOU WRITE?
The theme of my cozy mystery series is that of paper-crafting. I am a paper crafter, so it seemed like an easy fit. I do have cats and a dog in my series.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES. WHAT INSPIRES YOUR SERIES?
When I sat down and drafted out what I wanted in my book, I was not thinking cozy mystery at the time. It just happened that it turned into a cozy mystery. Happy accident, because I love writing these characters and the town that they live in, Bridgewater Harbor. By-the-way, I named the town from my mother’s house name, which was Bridgewater By-The-Sea, and the fact that I live near a harbor…the world’s smallest natural harbor. This series starts out with a woman in her mid-thirties finding out that her neighbor had just died, leaving her with a mysterious house. The neighbor’s nephew comes to settle his aunt’s estate, where he and my main character meet and fall in love. A mystery ensues and a group of senior citizens, who call themselves the Silver Sleuths, join in to help solve the clues and irritate the local police detective. There is a lot going on in this small town. The pace is fast and humor pops up often.
WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE LOVE TO READ COZY MYSTERIES?
People who love cozy mysteries probably grew up on Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, and books like them. These stories are fun, easy to read without tiring out your brain, and the characters are people you wouldn’t mind meeting. You know everyone important in the book is going to be okay at the end.
ASIDE FROM BEING AN AUTHOR, ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THE COZY COMMUNITY IN ANY OTHER WAY?
The only involvement I have in the cozy community is reading the numerous postings on Facebook groups (Cozy Mystery Village, Cozy Mystery Crew, Cozy Mystery Party, Inspiring Writers United), and many blogs. I did try and create my own cover for my first book, but quickly knew my limitations and learned from my mistake. My husband found DLR Cover Designs for me and I now work with Donna Rogers to do all of my covers.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS?
My favorite writers are many, but since I need to name a few, I would say Janet Evanovich, Debbie Macomber, and a local Oregon author by the name of Christy Fifield. Christy writes a fun cozy series about a bookshop with a talking parrot. I love the dinners she has with friends every week, which inspired the family dinners in my books.
IF YOU WERE MAROONED ON A DESERTED ISLAND, WHAT 3 BOOKS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU?
If I were marooned on a deserted island? Okay, if I was planning to take the S.S. Minnow to Gilligan’s Island the three books I would pack would be:
- A book of matches (along with a manual for survival).
- A fun mystery series. Okay, I am counting a series as one book!
- And if I am going to be stranded for a bit, I’d like the time to read the Bible from cover to cover.
DO YOU HAVE ANY PROJECTS COMING UP THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?
New and upcoming (sometime in the future) writing projects:
- Book #4 of the Die-cut Cozy Mysteries is The Craft Elves of Christmas. There is magic in the air!
- There’s a Chicken in my Bedroom (a collaboration with my husband, Jerry Ackaret). This is a story about our adventures in remodeling and contractors.
- Then there is the new cozy mystery series about a home sales stager. It is a three-book set. I plan to model this one after my sister, who is brilliant at staging homes and getting into messes.
The Quickie 5
(And you thought I would never get there)!
- FAVOURITE FOOD: Just one? Really? Lay’s Potato Chips…I eat them while I write. It helps me to concentrate.
- BEVERAGE OF CHOICE: Coffee, water, iced tea (in that order).
- MOST PRIZED POSSESSION: That’s a hard one to answer. I would like to say memories, because I know someday, I am going to lose them. But if the possession must be of the material kind, I would have to say anything from the jewelry my husband gave to me to the quarter and nickel my grandmother gave me when I was a child… the last time I saw her (I still have them). Then there is the painting that my other sister, Donna, who had Down Syndrome, did for me. It hangs in my bedroom. She is gone now, but her memories are there in that painting. I am a sentimental person, so I cherish kindness of others.
- FAVOURITE SEASON? Spring/Summer…Christmas!
- FAVOURITE VACATION SPOT? That’s easy, Disneyland. I once worked for Disney.
To keep up to date with Judith Dickenson Ackaret online, you can connect with her on:
Very amazing love this interview with you Judy 😀
Nice interview. Funny.
Thank you! It was a fun interview.
Your welcome
Great Q and A interview. I learned a few things about you I didn’t know.
Your books are very relaxing and interesting. They grab your attention.
Keep up the great work.
I enjoyed that very much. Such lovely storytelling with humor.
Loved reading your interview, learned things I didn’t know about you! Your books are fun, adventurous and kind just like you!
I loved your interview, I can see do much of your personality in it. I’m ready to read your new book!
The interview is just as lively a read as the books you write. Good job!
Very nice! Loved hearing about you and how you came to writing your stories.
Adorable pets, cute papercraft, and hands down the best book series for a stormy afternoon. Can’t wait for future series from the author who taught me to love mystery.
Judith’s book are a delightful combination of mystery, humor and endearing characters! If you are a dog/and or cat lover you will enjoy pleasure of reading about the adorable featured pets.
I’ve known Judith since she was sixteen years old and I see a bit of the mischievous and tenacious Judith in Annie.
I can’t wait for the fourth book in the series to come out!
What’s this about your sister getting into messes?I don’t remember that. ok, well, I might have inadvertently locked myself in the handicapped bathroom at Eagle Crest the other day. Oh, and the day before that I might have been two inches from ramming into the neighbors house with our boat. And there might have been the time…never mind.
Judy’s book are fun, easy reads. The characters spring off the page and you want to get to know them and the town personally.
If you want a little inside scoop of Judy as a child, she is featured as the character “Maddie” in the book UNIQUELY STELLA. But just as a child. The adult version I kind of exaggerated a tad. Happy reading!
The good sister
Your funny reminder I busted you out of jail
No, you didn’t
Yes very funny
Haha
What an interesting interview with a bonus of adorable cat photos!
Awesome interview! You are a very interesting gal who has led a similarly interesting life!! Thanks for the shout-out!!
Judith, I loved your interview! I can hardly wait for book #4 to come out and of course your others books too! About time for us to meet for coffee again!!
Good job– nice to know about how your life motivates you to write your stories!
Good job– nice to know about how your life motivates you to write your stories!