Nicole Asselin joins us for this week’s The Cozy 52 interview. Read on to find out more about her books, her favourite authors, and how her love of baseball inspires her books.
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 Nicole Asselin
NAME: Nicole Asselin
LIST ALL YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES:
- The Ballpark Mystery Series (two books) – Murder at First Pitch & Concession Stand Crimes
HOW ARE YOUR COZY MYSTERIES PUBLISHED? I’m indie published by a small press called Pandamoon Publishing based out of Texas.
The Q&A
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF
I’m a Technical Writer by day, mystery author by nights/weekends. I currently work in the healthcare industry just south of Boston. My mom lives out on Cape Cod, so I spend a lot of time there too. You can either find me out on my deck reading a good book, or on the couch watching one of the millions of detective/true crime shows on TV. I have three gorgeous kitties (Julia, Jacques, and Madeline). I’m a GIANT Boston sports fan, so:
Go Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, Pride, Patriots, Free Jacks, and Revolution!
LIST THREE FUN FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF THAT WE WOULDN’T READ IN YOUR ‘OFFICIAL’ BIO.
- I love the soap opera GENERAL HOSPITAL. I need my stories everyday.
- I listen to Red Sox games on the radio. I prefer it to the TV broadcast. Shout out to my guys in the Sox Booth, Will Fleming and Joe Castiglione.
- I was a published poet during college.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START WRITING? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE COZY MYSTERIES?
I’ve always been an avid reader and when I was a kid I became obsessed with Nancy Drew and Encyclopaedia Brown books. I never really thought I would get the opportunity to write my own books. I thought I was going to be a psychologist at one point. During college, I took a lot more literature classes, and wrote a lot of poetry. Flash forward to 2016, I attended the Malice Domestic conference in Maryland and started chatting with so many great authors. That was the inspiration I needed to start my first novel! I knew I wanted to do cozy from the beginning. It was my favorite genre to read, and I just love the fact that everything is usually resolved in the end.
WHAT SUBGENRE(S) OR THEMES OF COZY MYSTERIES DO YOU WRITE?
I don’t fit into a genre, so I made my own! Sports cozies. It has all the hallmarks of a regular cozy, but with a little baseball knowledge thrown in. I know up here in New England, the rabid Red Sox fans needed a corner of the cozy market of their own. I basically wrote what I wanted to read (and hadn’t been able to find). I love that the cozy world is opening up more to new ideas!
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES. WHAT INSPIRES YOUR SERIES?
My series is inspired for my very real love of the Boston Red Sox. In my dreams, I would love to own a baseball team or work for one, so this series is a little bit of wish fulfilment on my part.
WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE LOVE TO READ COZY MYSTERIES?
There is a sense of justice in the cozy world. The bad guy usually gets his just desserts in the end. Very rarely do the bad guys get away with it. I love that. It also just sucks you into a community. And who doesn’t want to live in a community with such vibrant characters. Maybe not the murders so much thought.
ASIDE FROM BEING AN AUTHOR, ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THE COZY COMMUNITY IN ANY OTHER WAY?
Yes! I love the community of mystery writers/readers. They welcomed me even before I had a book in the works. I try to attend conferences if I can. I also serve on the committee for the New England Crime Bake (a conference in November—registration open now!). I also love to help promote books on my podcast, BASEBALL, BOOKS, AND BANTER (not limited to baseball fans and cozy authors).
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS?
So many! Too many! Kate Carlisle is my cozy queen. Olivia Blacke. Korina Moss. S. A. Chakraborty. Sheila Connolly.
IF YOU WERE MAROONED ON A DESERTED ISLAND, WHAT 3 BOOKS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU?
Yikes! If I couldn’t take the 100 of books I have on my kindle (with hopefully an unlimited charge), I would pick the following:
City of Brass (SA Chakraborty), And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie), and Gene Kelly: A Life of Dance and Dreams (Alvin Yudkoff)
DO YOU HAVE ANY PROJECTS COMING UP THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?
I’m working on book three in the Ballpark Mystery series, currently titled Foul Play. My hope is to get it out for next year’s baseball season!
The Quickie 5
- FAVOURITE FOOD: Pasta with cheese (or Mac and Cheese
- BEVERAGE OF CHOICE: Diet Coke
- MOST PRIZED POSSESSION: My signed Brock Holt baseball that I got a spring training one year.
- FAVOURITE SEASON? Fall
- FAVOURITE VACATION SPOT? Anywhere I can stay cool and finish a good book!
To keep up to date with Nicole Asselin online, you can connect with her on:
Creating your own cozy sub-genre… now that’s cool! Great interview!
I think there are a lot of wonderful new cozy sub-genres being invented. There are so many interesting possibilities out there – something for everyone!