Make Note of Kate Darroch
Greetings, Noters!
I’m still on top of the world following yesterday’s release of Too Much to Candle. I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for Hazel’s next mystery to come out. I’m so glad the time has come, and my little indie book is out there in the world. It was a true joy to celebrate Too Much to Candle’s release with my pal J.C. Kenney on our show, The Bookish Hour. I’m so grateful so many viewers stopped by to share in the moment and chat with us. Topping it off with an appearance by Hazel herself and some Cold Cauldron Trivia was too much fun. I love that I’m able to connect with readers in such a personal way. It really takes the excitement of sharing one’s work to the next level.
The book launch fun is just getting started for me, though. For the rest of the month, I’ll be on a virtual book tour, stopping by a fabulous collection of blogs and websites with Too Much to Candle. I hope you’ll pop in and say hello! You can follow along with my stops here.
My featured author today also knows that the celebration of a book release never really stops! Without further ado…
A Bit About the Author: Living in gorgeous coastal Devon, Kate Darroch's lifelong love of reading Cozy Sleuths and her extensive knowledge of foreign climes helps her to create Travel Cozies. Kate enjoys learning from the experts as a member of Women in Publishing, Sisters in Crime, Nashville Killers, ALLi, and an eager participant in writer communities of bestselling Cozy authors.
Kate, thank you so much for being here today! It’s a pleasure to get to know you. What book made you first fall in love with reading?
When I was three years old, my mother used to take me with her when selecting her library books, and she always chose a Fairytale to read to me. One day, I whispered to the librarian that I wanted to read a book of Snow White with No Wicked Witch in it. The librarian asked me what I meant, so I read Snow White to her up to the Witch part and asked for a book without that part. My mother was very amused when the librarian told her that I could read. "She's just memorised the book" was her response. I became convinced that the only reason I couldn't enjoy Snow White with No Wicked Witch was that I'd never read a book on my own. I was too young to understand that books don't change because the reader wants them to change. So I guess you could say I fell in love with reading because I wanted to read Fairytales that didn't have Villains.
What a brilliant way to look at the magic of reading. I, too, enjoy a book with no villains. Maybe that’s why I like cozy mysteries so much; because I know the bad guy will always lose. Let’s jump from reader to writer. How did you begin your writing journey?
I was 14 years old when I wrote my first book. It was about a boy who had a magic token that let him travel anywhere, and he used it whenever he wanted to escape a boring lesson at school. One day, he accidentally brings the Headmaster with him to Switzerland. They have an adventure.
Shortly afterward I began work in a factory, and my focus moved from writing to studying in order to earn a scholarship to attend university. After that, I was always working long hours in demanding jobs, but whenever I had a little time to myself I would write.
Carving out that special time is so important, especially for a passion. What writing organizations or groups do you recommend aspiring authors getting involved with?
Joining creative writing groups in your local community is a fabulous way to begin. If you can afford it, try taking evening classes in creative writing at a university. Get a copy of Dorethea Brande's "On Becoming a Writer" and devour it. Then do what she says. Writers Write. When you know what you want to write, find the Greats who wrote that kind of work and learn from them. You want to be a playwright? Get Thornton Wilder's books on writing. You want to be a dramatic writer for TV/film? Get Lajos Egri's "The Art of Dramatic Writing" To write Horror? Get Steven King's books on writing. To write Mystery? Get Sol Stein's books on writing. To write books that sell in any genre? Get Lee Child's books on writing and self-publishing your writing. When you're ready to seek publication, the Alliance of Independent Authors is a great resource. So are any groups of like-minded writers (for example, Sisters in Crime) if you write crime novels.
That’s a phenomenal collection of resources. Learning from others is a great way to begin (as well as getting some good reading in, too). Let’s discuss your characters. What trait do you admire most about your protagonist?
I have several protagonists in different books, and I most admire a different quality in each. What they all have in common is that s/he is his/her own person, and they are courageous - which doesn't mean that they aren't afraid. It means that they do the brave thing even though they're frightened, and they try not to show their fear. I admire that quality - courage - very much indeed, in anyone.
What is one thing your protagonist has done that has annoyed you?
All my protagonists do things that annoy me very much because I wouldn't do them. Màiri Maguire (my best-known protagonist) annoys me by bursting into tears and then feeling self-conscious about that because she's lost control of herself. I'm not annoyed that she's crying, I'm annoyed that she feels unworthy about crying.
How do you celebrate a big professional accomplishment?
My biggest accomplishment this year was when Death in Paris (the first Màiri Maguire Cozy Mystery) was awarded the Readers Favorite Gold Medal for Humour. I'm celebrating by flying to Miami from the UK to attend the awards ceremony, and meeting up with some friends for a short break in Las Vegas.
Wow! Congratulations—that sounds like a fabulous way to celebrate. What’s the most you’ve ever written in one sitting?
I don't actually know... it might have been when my computer ate an assignment whose deadline was the next day, and I sat there for 15 hours straight getting 45 pages back onto typing paper just from my own memory of the forever-lost work. But that might not count because it was re-writing.
The fastest I've ever written was 6 pages in 20 minutes. I was burning to put those particular words onto my computer. I've never written that fast since, but I often write 10 to 12 pages in a 10-hour writing jag.
Six pages in twenty minutes is very impressive. I think my record is 12,000 words in one day. I felt sick afterward because I had been so incredibly focused that I didn’t take care of myself at all that day LOL What are three things that are always on your writing desk?
Paper, pencils, and a pencil sharpener.
What is your favorite, can’t-live-without writing tool?
A sharp pencil. I'm very old-fashioned. I prefer to write with a pencil first and then transcribe that onto my computer.
I admire that—I used to try and write free-hand but my hand would cramp up or I’d get frustrated not being able to write quickly enough! All right, our last question: It’s vacation time. What literary hero do you enlist to be your travel companion? Why?
Major Ellis Peverel, who appears in the Màiri Maguire Cozy Mysteries and will soon have his own series They Call Him Gimlet.
The Major is an interesting conversationalist and well-read. He speaks 5 languages fluently and can always get you anything you want in any foreign place. Often he has influential friends in whatever place you happen to be, and he can get an embassy or a police force on your side if you happen to need them. He has very old-fashioned ideas about always looking after the lady he is escorting and providing for her comfort. And he understands what you want/need so well that at times I wonder if he's psychic...
The Major sounds like the ideal travel buddy. Kate, thank you so much for stopping by and chatting with me about your writing. And have a fabulous time at the Readers Favorite award ceremony! Noters, you can check out Kate’s latest novel, Death in Paris, below!
Death in Paris: Màiri Maguire teaches in top schools all over the world, but on days like today she wishes she had never left Glasgow!
8:10 a.m. on 15th August 1970. They’ve been in Paris only 12 hours. Lianna, Màiri's closest friend, is locked up in jail, charged with murder. Màiri is being hunted by murderous criminals. She never dreamt that travelling outside Scotland would be so dangerous.
Major Ellis Peverel seldom leaves Màiri's side. Respected by the Paris police, shrouded in secrets, who is this man? Is he a true friend to Màiri, or does he have an agenda of his own?
Who really killed the corrupt taxman for whose death Lianna has been framed? Màiri has only 6 days to find the murderer. Can she free Lianna in time? Or must she choose between her friend's freedom and her own livelihood… if she can stay alive that long...
Death in Paris has won 9 International Book Awards since its release in April 2022, including the Readers Favorite Gold Medal for Humour and the Firebird Award for Best Book by a First Time Published Author.