Olivia Blacke joins us for this week’s The Cozy 52 interview. Read on to find out what inspires her books, her favourite season, and what books she has coming up 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 Olivia Blacke
NAME: Olivia Blacke
LIST ALL YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES:
- Record Shop Mysteries:
- Vinyl Resting Place
- A Fatal Groove (7/25/23)
- Rhythm and Clues (3/26/24)
- Brooklyn Murder Mysteries:
- Afterlife (not cozy mystery) (Fall 2024, Minotaur)
HOW ARE YOUR COZY MYSTERIES PUBLISHED? Traditional – Record Shop Mysteries (St. Martin’s Press), Brooklyn Murder Mysteries (Berkley)
The Q&A
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF
OLIVIA BLACKE (she/her), author of Vinyl Resting Place and A Fatal Groove finally found a way to put her Criminology degree to good use by writing quirky, unconventional, character-driven cozy mysteries. Olivia, who wants to be a unicorn when she grows up, is a little nerdy, a lot awkward, and just the right amount of weird.
LIST THREE FUN FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF THAT WE WOULDN’T READ IN YOUR ‘OFFICIAL’ BIO.
- I’m a recovering ex-Texan. Setting the Record Shop Mysteries in my home state was an easy decision, especially with Austin being the self-proclaimed Live Music Capital of the World.
- I’ve always been a voracious reader. When I was younger, I literally read every single book in my local bookmobile.
- As I write this, I’ve got a roly-poly puggle on my lap demanding attention. I didn’t know what a puggle was when I first met her at the rescue (half beagle, half pug, and all attitude) but now Baileycakes is the center of my world.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START WRITING? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE COZY MYSTERIES?
I’ve been making up stories since long before I ever learned how to write. Cozies were a natural choice for me because I’ve been reading them since I first discovered Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew, and they’re really fun to write. Writing (or reading) a cozy mystery is like hanging out with all your besties in your hometown.
WHAT SUBGENRE(S) OR THEMES OF COZY MYSTERIES DO YOU WRITE?
The Record Shop Mysteries are set in a (spoiler alert!) vinyl record shop called Sip & Spin Records. In addition to the musical themes throughout, there’s a small coffee café inside of Sip & Spin Records which is a great way to bring the town (and gossip) to the reader, and gives me the chance to sneak a few dozen bonus musical coffee-themed puns into every book.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES. WHAT INSPIRES YOUR SERIES?
In the Record Shop Mysteries, sisters Juni, Tansy, and Maggie resurrect Sip & Spin Records, their family’s vinyl record shop/coffee café in the small town of Cedar River outside of Austin, Texas. Together, the sisters serve up the coolest music and the hottest music-themed beverages—and occasionally solve a murder.
The series is inspired by a small family-owned shop my own grandparents ran. They didn’t sell music, or coffee (or solve murders), but I like to think something of the family business lives on in Sip & Spin Records.
WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE LOVE TO READ COZY MYSTERIES?
Cozies are comforting. The bad guy gets their comeuppance. The average person just like you or me saves the day. There’s always a happy ending and justice always prevails. Particularly in times when it feels like none of that ever happens in real life, it’s nice to find it between the pages of a good book.
ASIDE FROM BEING AN AUTHOR, ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THE COZY COMMUNITY IN ANY OTHER WAY?
I’ve met some amazing people in the cozy community and I’m trying to get more into conventions and organizations, but for me the biggest problem is finding time to do everything!
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS?
There are so many talented authors writing cozy (and cozy-adjacent) mysteries out there that I could spend all day making recommendations. My favorite writers are those that challenge the genre and blur the lines between what is and what isn’t a cozy. The rom-cozies, the quozies (queer cozies), the younger sleuths, and the cozies set in metropolitan cities always grab my attention.
IF YOU WERE MAROONED ON A DESERTED ISLAND, WHAT 3 BOOKS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU?
I was an early adopter of e-books so I wouldn’t ever have to make this kind of decision! As long as the deserted island has wi-fi and power cord, and I’ve got my e-book reader, I will never have to choose.
DO YOU HAVE ANY PROJECTS COMING UP THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?
I actually have two books coming out next year. In Rhythm and Clues, the third book in the Record Shop Mysteries, a predatory investor who is targeting Sip & Spin Records is killed outside the shop. Up until now, the Jessup sisters have been playing it by ear, but with the whole town watching, can they catch a killer before he strikes again? The rhythm is gonna get you March 26, 2024 from St. Martin’s Paperbacks.
The first book in a new non-cozy mystery series, Afterlife is a darkly humorous supernatural mystery about a recently deceased ghost who teams up with the new (living) roommate of her apartment to solve a series of apparently unconnected murders. Look for Afterlife from Minotaur Fall of 2024.
The Quickie 5
- FAVOURITE FOOD: I’m a little like my main character Juni Jessup on this one. My favorite food is often whatever I’m eating at the moment. I’m a pickier eater than she is but I don’t play favorites when it comes to delicious meals and snacks.
- BEVERAGE OF CHOICE: White chocolate mocha, soy, no whip.
- MOST PRIZED POSSESSION: It might sound odd, but my great-grandmother picked up a cheap souvenir at a roadside stand on a trip to Alaska and gave it to me when I was a little kid, and that little doll (beyond being no kidding haunted) is the first thing I’d grab if my home was on fire.
- FAVOURITE SEASON? Hockey season.
- FAVOURITE VACATION SPOT? Vacation? What’s that? Sounds like fun!
Connect with Olivia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or check out her website OliviaBlacke.com.
That was a fun introduction to Olivia. She obviously has a great sense of humor!
Olivia is great! And I just knew that her favorite season would be Hockey season 🙂