• Novels by Sylvia
  • Author Bio
  • Murder She Wrote
AUTHOR SYLVIA MASSARA

what do you get when you bring together 128 hungry mystery authors? cozy food!!!

6/14/2014

6 Comments

 
PictureNancy Lynn Jarvis
Author Nancy Lynn Jarvis decided to step out of plotting murder for a while and to dabble into what drives all authors (besides coffee, that is): FOOD! Yes, creativity must be fed and not only with murder mystery plots. So Nancy did the next best thing, she brought together 128 mystery authors (including yours truly) and everyone contributed a recipe toward Nancy's new book "Cozy Food".

As a foodie, I couldn't resist but invite Nancy for an interview regarding her latest culinary creation put together with contributions from some hungry murder-and-mayhem-plotting authors.

So, here we go ...

PictureCozy Food -- the book
SM: I was really impressed with your idea to publish a cookbook with recipes from 128 mystery authors. How did this idea come about?

NLJ: My Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries fall under the category of cozy mysteries, but their book covers and titles are a bit harsh for the category. I was looking for graphics I might use for the next book with a softer feel and happened on the cover graphic for Cozy Food. I absolutely fell in love with it and thought if ever there was a perfect graphic for a cozy cookbook, I was looking at it. So that’s what first got me thinking about a cookbook.


PictureFood, glorious food!
SM: Tell us how you compiled the book. I mean, is it in sections such as starters, mains and desserts? Are there any graphics in it?

NLJ: The cookbook is in sections, each introduced by a cozy mystery writer graphic. The categories cover everything from starters to desserts and all meals from breakfast thru dinner with a Quick, Easy, Quirky, Saucy & Even Pet Treats section for everything else. The final third of the cookbook is devoted to contributing author biographies. In many ways that’s my favourite part of the book because what some of the writers have to say is so interesting and there are a couple of pages of humorous outtakes.  I say almost, because there’s that big bulge in the middle of the book for sweet things, which is where my heart is.


PictureCoppers, we didn't mean it!
SM: I hope none of the mystery authors got carried away and decided to throw in a pinch or a few drops of arsenic in their recipe. Hehehe. We don't want the cops to come sniffing around.

NLJ: Nothing lethal has been reported by any readers...but then, how would we know if eating a recipe killed them?


SM:
Exactly! Let's hope the coppers don't catch on. LOL


PictureBUG SHUSHI? EEW!
SM: Did you get any “strange” recipes like bugs on rice or something equally weird?

NLJ: Just a few (can you hear me laughing?) My favourite recipe title hands down is “Mammoth Meat Jerky Adapted for Cro Magnons and Modern Humans.” Some other great titles are: Pimento Cheese For Dummies, Murder on the Orient Espresso Martini, Dispatcho Gazpacho, The Poet’s Recipe for Salad, (which came with an original recipe in verse), Hot Grudge Sundae Cake,  and (Don’t Let Lady Macbeth Near The) Lemon Posset.


SM: Wow, there are some excellent names here. I now wish I'd called my recipe for Hazelnut Pesto Tagliatelle something like "The Hazel Nut Scissor Killer Pesto"
. After all, tagliatelle comes from the Italian word "tagliare", meaning to cut. So my killer would have used scissors to kill his victims--hazelnut scissors! Might as well keep it tasty, right?

PictureDial "choc chip" for Murder!
SM cont'd: I read Murder House, one of your Regan McHenry mysteries. Would you say Regan is food oriented in the novels? I noticed she likes a fine wine.

NLJ: Regan is definitely a foodie. She has an original recipe for Mysterious Chocolate Chip Cookies (in the book) and keeps dough frozen ready to bake at open houses and to take to friends and clients accused of murder. She has an herb garden and citrus trees in pots so she can pick items for food. Mostly, though, she likes to experiment with recipes. Sometimes she creates great meals, and sometimes they don’t work out well. Fortunately her husband Tom is almost a saint and doesn’t complain; he just drinks more wine with dinner if there’s a flop served.


PictureMia and her creator can't live without good Italian fare
SM: Well, I was tickled pink when you asked me to submit a recipe. So I did a quick one with an Italian origin as befits my protagonist, Mia Ferrari. She loves Italian food and coffee. But she doesn’t have too much time to cook when she’s out there solving murders. My question here is, did you identify any trends among the recipes submitted by all the authors? You know, like going for pastas and other starchy foods (as these things feed the soul of creative people), or did they go for the healthier trends with loads of salads and vegetables?

NLJ: More writers submitted dessert-type recipes than anything else. I thought that said a lot about cozy writers until I looked through “The Joy of Cooking” and discovered it was heavily weighted there, too. I had to ask for salads and veggie recipes, but I don’t know if cozy writers avoid them personally or worried that readers would because there are many other “healthy” recipes.


SM: I think without coffee and sugar of all kinds we probably wouldn't be as creative. Mind you, I still love my pasta and pizza!


Picture
The usual fuel for authors
Picture
Pushing creativity to the limit with sugars
PictureNancy's favourite "poison"
SM: So we established a trend of dessert-type recipes contributed for the book, and we can safely acknowledge authors usually favour coffee, coffee and more coffee, plus chocolate or other sugars for creativity. I definitely fall into this category. But what is your “poison”?

NLJ: My poison is anything salty and spicy. While I love chocolate, if I had to chose between a plate of brownies and a bowl of corn chips and salsa, I’d reach for the chips every time. As for beverages, for me it’s good black tea brewed like my grandfather taught me to make it, which is almost as dark as coffee.


Picture
SM: Where is the cookbook available and in what formats?

NLJ: The cookbook is available on Amazon in print, for people like me who want to write in the margins of my cookbooks, and for eReaders like Kindle and iPad. The e-version is priced at only $3.99 U.S. We want to get readers to discover new cozy writers while they cook so it’s priced very reasonably.

SM: Anything else you’d like our readers to know?

NLJ: Writers who contributed recipes have writing histories that are all over the board from multiple-time New York Times Bestsellers to writers doing their first book. There are recipes from writers with big traditional publishers, small presses, and indie authors. I love that everyone contributed and that this is a cookbook full of more than 220 great recipes from all sorts of cozy writers. Oh, and while doing this cookbook, I learned that cozy writers are some of the nicest, most supportive people out there.

SM: Nancy, a big thank you for putting this yummy book together and for being a guest on Sylvia Says--the blog. It's wonderful when so many authors come together and contribute to such a great idea. Those of you who have contributed, you know who you are--but if you've eaten too much chocolate and are in a frenzied state of writing, you will find your name below in this list of contributors.

Buon appetito everyone!


Picture
Contributing authors
6 Comments
    Picture

    Author Sylvia Massara's:
    "Sylvia Says"

    A blog about the joys, trials, and tribulations of life on planet earth, plus  all things literary.

    Sylvia Massara is an Australian author who is passionate about animal rights, climate change and  saving our planet, plus the right of individuals to choose DIY euthanasia.

    Picture
    Subscribe to Sylvia Says by Email

    RSS Feed

    free counters

    Archives

    July 2021
    October 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    February 2019
    May 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    March 2016
    August 2015
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    April 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    June 2011

    Categories

    All
    1920's Era
    Advice On Internet Dating
    Age Discrimination
    Ageism
    Aging
    Air Pollution
    Al Capone
    Angelina Jolie
    Annoying Callers
    Annoying Calls
    Ant Ryan
    Archaeology
    Australian Bushfires 2020
    Australian Pension
    Australian Politics
    Author Interview
    Authors
    Authors Make Money
    Babyboomers
    Bastard Men
    Betrayal
    Blackstar
    Book Critics
    Book Genres
    Book Promotion
    Book Release
    Book Review
    Book Reviews
    Books
    Buddhism
    Bullies
    Cary Ashby
    Cat Ryan
    Charities
    Cheaters
    Cheating
    Cheating Husbands
    Chicklit
    Childrens Books
    Climate Change
    Cookbooks
    Cooking
    Coping With Divorce
    Coronavirus
    COVID-19
    Cozy Food
    Cozy Mysteries
    Crank Calls
    Creativity
    Cruising
    Cyberbullies
    Cyberbullying
    Dates
    Dating
    Dating Blog
    Dating Online
    Dating Profiles
    David Bowie
    David Grossman Series
    Dead Bodies
    Demons
    Detroit
    Divorce
    Do Not Call Register
    Drug Addiction
    Eat Pray Love
    Ebook Giveaway
    Ebooks
    Ecological Disaster
    Editors
    Electoral Campaigns
    Empowerment
    Facebook
    Factory Farming
    Feedback From Readers
    Filmmaking
    Film Option
    Film Rights
    Financial Success
    Friendship
    Fulfilling Prophecies
    Fundraising
    Gay
    Gay Mardi Gras
    Genocide
    George Clooney
    Gigolos
    Guest On Blogs
    Healing Through Writing
    Henlit
    Hinduism
    How To Stop Annoying Callers
    Humankind
    Influencial People
    In Memory Of David Bowie
    Internet Dating
    James Woods
    Jew In Jail
    Karma
    Killer Clowns
    Lack Of Men
    Law Of Attraction
    Life
    Like Casablanca
    Literature
    Living Many Lives
    Lost Love
    Love
    Mafia
    Manipulating Nature
    Maria Savva
    Marriage
    Meaning Of Life
    Method Acting
    Method Writing
    Mia Ferrari Mysteries
    Mission Impossible
    Motivational
    Motivational Speaker
    Multi Genre Authors
    Multi-genre Authors
    Mysteries
    Mystery
    Mystery Authors
    New York City
    Nigerian Scammers
    Novel
    Novels
    NYC
    Obama
    Older Men
    Older Women
    Older Workers
    Online Dating
    Online Friendships
    Opportunity Knocks
    Overcoming Adversity
    Oversupply Of Men
    Pension Age
    Phillip Roope
    Philosophy Of Life
    Politics
    Prison
    Psycho
    Publishing
    Puke
    Pulp Fiction
    Readers
    Recipes
    Reinventing Yourself
    Relationship Breakups
    Relationships
    Revenge
    Reviewers
    Richard Gere
    RIP David Bowie
    Robert Redford
    Romance
    Romance Novel
    Sci Fi Genre
    Sci-fi Genre
    Sex
    Sex On Internet Dating
    Sex Online
    Short Stories
    Social Media
    South Pacific
    Spanish Flu
    Steven Jay Griffel
    Suspense
    Sylvia Massara
    Telemarketers
    The Ishi Affair
    The Muse
    The Soul Bearers
    The Universe
    Trolls
    Twitter
    Unbroken
    Unsolicited
    Utopian
    Viruses
    Voting
    Womens Rights3a1ea7cf53
    World Hunger
    Writing
    Younger Women
    Ziggy Stardust

  • Novels by Sylvia
  • Author Bio
  • Murder She Wrote