Rosie Pease joins us for this week’s The Cozy 52 interview. Learn more about her writing, what inspires her cozy mysteries, and what colour she can’t eat (yes, you read that right!)
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 Rosie Pease
NAME: Rosie Pease
LIST ALL YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES:
- Mixing Up Magic
- The Matchmaking Baker (a novella prequel series to Mixing Up Magic)
- Purrfect Travel Companion (the prequel was out briefly last fall as part of the When the Cat’s Away anthology published by Whiskered Mysteries, but it along with Book 1 of the series is coming soon)
HOW ARE YOUR COZY MYSTERIES PUBLISHED? Right now they are all self-published, though I have been published through a small press before.
The Q&A
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF
I was born and raised in Rhode Island but have lived in Vermont, New York, and Ohio. The first two for school and the third for work. I love small towns, and I use the places I’ve lived in or traveled to as inspiration for the settings of my cozy mysteries, mashing up parts of everywhere to create fictitious towns that feel familiar.
I collect Funko Pops of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Doctor Who, and Marvel variety, with a few others thrown in for fun. Once upon a time, my desk was such a mess that it warranted a mention in my bio, but now that I have a new desk that my husband built for me, I’m trying to keep it clean.
When not writing, I’m playing with my 4yo daughter, hanging out with my husband, or being amused by our two crazy cats.
LIST THREE FUN FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF THAT WE WOULDN’T READ IN YOUR ‘OFFICIAL’ BIO.
- I’m allergic to blue food coloring, so no eating M&Ms in the dark for me.
- I’m learning French, German, and Hawaiian through Duolingo.
- I got engaged at a book event and wore my wedding dress to the event’s awards show the following year.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START WRITING? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE COZY MYSTERIES?
I’ve been writing for forever. Wrote my first story in kindergarten. Wrote a story in the first or second grade that was based on a picture. Mine was sixteen chapters long and wasn’t done by the end of the school year. I really enjoy telling stories. And I chose to write cozies because the cozy movies and shows became my night time companions during pregnancy insomnia to the point that I dreamed about them when I finally did fall asleep. I love a small town. Some of my favorite places are small towns, and I wanted to create small towns and the characters inside them that I could visit whenever I wrote and that people would want to read about.
WHAT SUBGENRE(S) OR THEMES OF COZY MYSTERIES DO YOU WRITE?
Culinary, paranormal, and pets, lol. More like a blending of them. So culinary paranormal for two of my series. And pets for the other.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES. WHAT INSPIRES YOUR SERIES?
- Mixing Up Magic is about a small-town baker with a knack for matchmaking who sees ghosts. Everyone in town gossips about her being a witch because her treats help people get jobs, boost confidence, cure morning sickness, or help wake them up on Mondays, and more, but she doesn’t believe in the rumors until a ghost starts interfering with one of her matched couples, preventing them from being together. The mystery in many of the books in this series involves why the ghost is there and through that, my main character is led to believe that maybe what everyone says about her is true.
- I started writing it about six months after my daughter was born, and I’d been binging a whole lot of the show The Good Witch. When I was pregnant, insomnia saw me watching a whole lot of Hallmark’s murder movies, particularly the Hannah Swenson Mystery series.
- The Matchmaking Baker is a prequel novella series following the same main character as in Mixing Up Magic a few years prior to the main series. You see her in school and during her first year as a baker, and you see just how oblivious to there being something let’s say different about her and her surroundings. It can be read before or anytime during the Matchmaking Baker series.
- Purrfect Travel Companion is about a budding travel blogger and her new cat, Trouble. Whether at home in their small town or out on the road, they end up in the path of a dead body and a case to solve.
- This series came to me thanks to a series of premade covers that I was offered. It was not something I’d remotely thought about at the time until the opportunity to get the covers arose.
WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE LOVE TO READ COZY MYSTERIES?
They’re fun escapes into familiar places that are comfortable, and even when the stakes are high, you know that everyone for the most part will be okay at the end. It’s like visiting a friend within the pages of a book.
ASIDE FROM BEING AN AUTHOR, ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THE COZY COMMUNITY IN ANY OTHER WAY?
I have been in the past, previously ran social media for the small press I was published through, and I dabbled in making covers for a while, but right now it’s just me and my books.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS?
For cozy writers or cozy adjacent writers, my favorites are Shawn McGuire, author of the Whispering Pines series and Molly Fitz, author of the Pet Whisperer P.I. series among others. Outside of the cozy realm, I’ll go with Diana Gabaldon, James A. Owen, Casey Bond, and Rachael Brownell.
IF YOU WERE MAROONED ON A DESERTED ISLAND, WHAT 3 BOOKS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU?
The Hunger Games. It’s what got me back into reading after finishing grad school. Outlander because I love just how connected everything in those books are and it would keep me busy reading for a while. Family Secrets by Shawn McGuire. I really love that whole series.
DO YOU HAVE ANY PROJECTS COMING UP THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?
I’m currently working on edits for Muffins and Mediums, Book 5 in the Mixing Up Magic series. That will be out in the next couple of months. After that, it’s edits for Catastrophe in the Kitchen, Book 1 of the Purrfect Travel Companion series. Next on the list for writing is Book 6 in MUM, Book 2 in PTC, and I have to decide what brand-new thing I want to start writing. I have a lot of ideas. Anyone have something they’d like to see?
The Quickie 5
- FAVOURITE FOOD: French fries. Dress them up however you like and I’m happy.
- BEVERAGE OF CHOICE: Tea. Any sort of loose-leaf flavored caffeinated tea. Typically of the Earl Grey or chai variety.
- MOST PRIZED POSSESSION: That’s a tough one! Let’s go with the painted portrait of my cat Zoe that a good friend of mine painted. My husband asked her to paint it as a Christmas gift a few years back.
- SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter. Though spring and fall more so.
- FAVOURITE VACATION SPOT? Cooperstown, NY
To keep up to date with Rosie Pease online, you can connect with her on:
WEBSITE | @WriteRosiePease throughout social media, though she’s most active on INSTAGRAM.
