Lisa M. Lane joins us for this week’s The Cozy 52 interview. Read on to find out more about Lisa’s historical mysteries, what inspired her stories, and what she has coming out next!
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 Lisa M. Lane
NAME: Lisa M. Lane
LIST ALL YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES:
- Murder at Old St. Thomas’s, Murder at an Exhibition, and Murder on the Pneumatic Railway comprise the Tommy Jones Mysteries. They are stand-alone novels with interconnecting characters.
HOW ARE YOUR COZY MYSTERIES PUBLISHED? Independently published through my own imprint, Grousable Books.
The Q&A
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF
I’m a semi-retired history professor-turned-novelist who started writing fiction only a few years ago. I write historical mysteries, literary fiction, historical romance, and academic works. I live near San Diego with my husband David, who is an artist-woodworker, and our cat Sabrina.
LIST THREE FUN FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF THAT WE WOULDN’T READ IN YOUR ‘OFFICIAL’ BIO.
- I’m a Dodger fan
- my idea of camping is a hotel without room service
- I’m really bad at guessing whodunnit
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START WRITING? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE COZY MYSTERIES?
Reading. I’m the kid who went to the library on the bus all summer, carrying the maximum amount of books back and forth in a grocery bag. I also loved watching mysteries on television: Peter Wimsey, Poirot, Miss Marple, Columbo. But I didn’t like violence and gore—they would give me nightmares. They say you should write the books you want to read, so that’s what I did. I like books with history, rich detail, and interesting characters. If there’s blood, the person must already be dead. Cozies were a natural.
WHAT SUBGENRE(S) OR THEMES OF COZY MYSTERIES DO YOU WRITE?
I write historical mysteries which I call semi-cozy, because they have no gratuitous violence or sex scenes, but are not based in the usual subgenres. I only have one character who bakes. My books are character-centered and intensively researched, more like historical novels with a mystery in them.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES. WHAT INSPIRES YOUR SERIES?
The idea for Murder at Old St. Thomas’s was inspired by a visit to the Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret in London. As I sat there in the reconstructed operating theatre, my first thought was, “this looks like a good place for a murder”. It took a while to develop—when I discovered the hospital had been in a temporary location for nine years but little was known about that time, I had my own mystery to solve.
After the first book, the characters themselves became very real to me, and made it clear there was more they wanted to do! And Tommy needed to grow up. Thus the trilogy.
WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE LOVE TO READ COZY MYSTERIES?
Like other mystery readers, we want a sense of justice, completion, and certainty. Horrible things happen all the time, things we can’t control and that affect us and our loved ones. Cozies let us deal with some of those things without having to get close to the horror; instead we get close to characters who can deal with it, which is reassuring.
ASIDE FROM BEING AN AUTHOR, ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THE COZY COMMUNITY IN ANY OTHER WAY?
Although I am more involved in communities of historical novelists since we share similar challenges, the cozy community has been delightfully friendly. I have no artistic talent for book covers and my leadership skills were burned up working in education, so I just go along to learn.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS?
“Some” is a generous word! I’m going to give a small sample: H.G. Wells, Ernest Hemingway, Alexandre Dumas, Agatha Christie, Virginia Woolf, John Le Carré, Iain Pears, Julian Barnes, Rachel Cusk, Rhys Bowen, John Lanchester, and Matthew Pearl.
IF YOU WERE MAROONED ON A DESERTED ISLAND, WHAT 3 BOOKS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU?
Ocean Fishing for Clumsy Suburbanites, How to Build a Boat with No Supplies, and Robinson Crusoe.
DO YOU HAVE ANY PROJECTS COMING UP THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?
Sure! I am working on a “true” cozy, a contemporary mystery set in a California beach town, where the victim is found at the bottom of a collapsed bluff with a cocktail umbrella nearby. The amateur detective, a former nurse in Vietnam, will have a cat, but baked goods will be delivered by her friend the news writer. No cooking, no quilts, but a cozy all the same.
The Quickie 5
- FAVOURITE FOOD: Dark chocolate, any form, unadulterated by nuts or fruit
- BEVERAGE OF CHOICE: Famous Grouse whisky
- MOST PRIZED POSSESSION: My health
- SUMMER OR WINTER? Early summer, absolutely. I like it warm, with everything growing madly before the insects arrive.
- FAVOURITE VACATION SPOT? London in the 19th century
To keep up to date with Lisa M. Lane online, you can connect with her on:
WEBSITE (Lisa M. Lane) | WEBSITE (Grousable Books) | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS
