Korina Moss joins us for this week’s The Cozy 52 interview. I’m soooo excited to have Korina here because I’m a huge fan of her Cheese Shop Mystery series and I don’t feel guilty indulging in lots of cheese while I’m reading her books! Read on to learn more about her writing, her favourite books and authors, and her plans for the future (which includes more books – hooray!)
I’m so excited to have Korina here that I even changed my usual Author Q&A banner (did you notice the difference? I removed the plant and put in a cheese board! LOL)
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 Korina Moss
NAME: Korina Moss
LIST ALL YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES: The Cheese Shop Mystery series
HOW ARE YOUR COZY MYSTERIES PUBLISHED? Traditionally published by St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan Publishing
The Q&A
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF
To sum it up, I’m a middle-aged, divorced mom who intended to go on my own Eat, Pray, Love journey, but stalled at the Eat phase. The longer story is, about six years ago, my world changed drastically when my marriage of twenty-five years ended at the same time I had a milestone mid-century birthday. It was then I got serious about writing—something I’d been dabbling in almost all my life. So here I am now, a published author working on the fourth book of my cheese shop mystery series, living in Connecticut, and weepy about being newly empty-nested, as my only child started college this fall. I’m big on budgeting (read: you’ll see me wearing ten-year-old sweaters) so that I can continue my love of traveling. I love reading cozy mysteries and suspense novels, doing jigsaw puzzles, and watching British mystery TV programs.
LIST THREE FUN FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF THAT WE WOULDN’T READ IN YOUR ‘OFFICIAL’ BIO.
- I’m the youngest of six kids, five of us girls.
- My favorite Disney World rides are Toy Story Mania and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
- I was a cheerleader in high school.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START WRITING? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE COZY MYSTERIES?
From the time I first started reading, I loved getting lost in books. I think it was my big imagination that made me want to create my own stories, but I also remember thinking how much I’d love to be able to give others that same feeling I get when I read a good book.
I chose cozy mysteries because of my love for reading them, starting with Nancy Drew. After reading all the Agatha Christie novels in my library, I was looking for similar books with that “cozy” feel. That’s when I started discovering cozy mystery series, and I was hooked immediately. I loved reading them so much, I wanted to write my own.
WHAT SUBGENRE(S) OR THEMES OF COZY MYSTERIES DO YOU WRITE?
I write the cheese shop mystery series, which is a culinary mystery.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES. WHAT INSPIRES YOUR SERIES?
My series is inspired by all things cozy. Cheese plays a big part in my books, because it’s comforting and communal, which are cozy elements. The cheese shop, Curds & Whey, is French-inspired, so it’s got touches of elegance while still being homey and warm. This also describes my fictional small town. Tucked away in the Sonoma Valley—the heart of wine country—Yarrow Glen is surrounded by a gorgeous landscape and bustling, upscale tourist towns. But with its dairy farming roots and a downtown of small businesses where many of the owners live above their shops, Yarrow Glen maintains its cozy community. My main character, Willa, is new to town and just opened her cheese shop in the first book of the series, Cheddar Off Dead. Her next-door neighbor, handyman Baz, and two employees, retired high school drama teacher, Mrs. Schultz, and affable, nineteen-year-old Archie, become fast friends through investigating the first murder together to clear Willa’s name and keep the shop from going under.
WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE LOVE TO READ COZY MYSTERIES?
I think we like being transported to an idyllic town with an interesting group of friends where we can block out the problems of the real world and focus on a single, solvable one—the fictitious murder of a not-so-nice person. It’s really about being surrounded by things that bring us comfort while solving an interesting puzzle.
ASIDE FROM BEING AN AUTHOR, ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THE COZY COMMUNITY IN ANY OTHER WAY?
I love interacting with cozy mystery Facebook groups. I don’t have one of my own, but I like being a part of Cozy Mystery Party, Cozy Mystery Village, Meg’s Cozy Corner, and Death Becomes Us, to name just a few. Doing Author Takeovers is a highlight for me. I also interact with my readers through my free monthly newsletter. We call ourselves #TeamCheese. I get to connect with many of my subscribers and other readers via my Facebook author page, Instagram, and Twitter. I interact with other writers through my memberships in Sisters in Crime (and their regional New England and Connecticut chapters) and Mystery Writers of America. I would love to do some workshops for new writers interested in the genre or lead Zoom cozy mystery book clubs. Since getting my series contract, I haven’t yet had the time to put as much effort into this as I’d like, but it is in my plan.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS?
I’ve had different favorites throughout the years. In my teens and early twenties, Stephen King was my favorite. Agatha Christie has been a perpetual favorite. Ann Patchett has written some of my very favorite books. M. C. Beaton was a favorite cozy mystery author, although there are so many cozy mystery series that I adore, I couldn’t possibly list all my favorite authors.
IF YOU WERE MAROONED ON A DESERTED ISLAND, WHAT 3 BOOKS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU?
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. If I could take a nonfiction inspirational book, I’d choose one of those also, but for books with lots of atmosphere that take me away, I’d choose these (and smuggle in Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and a Laura Ingalls Wilder book).
DO YOU HAVE ANY PROJECTS COMING UP THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?
On September 27th, the second book in my cheese shop mystery series, Gone For Gouda, releases. I’ve completed the third book, Curds of Prey, which is available for pre-order and releases in March 2023. I recently got a contract to write three more in the series (for a total of six, thus far), so you can expect cheese shop mysteries to come out about every six months for the next couple of years.
The Quickie 5
- FAVOURITE FOOD: Mexican food
- BEVERAGE OF CHOICE: Coke Zero
- MOST PRIZED POSSESSION: My computer with all my work in it
- SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer
- FAVOURITE VACATION SPOT? So many past favorites, but nowadays probably on a ship out at sea.
To keep up to date with Korina Moss online, you can connect with her on:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM
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