I am so excited to share this interview with the national best-selling author, Melissa Bourbon. Today is the publication day for Dough or Die, Book #5 in the Bread Shop Mystery Series, which is written under her pseudonym Winnie Archer. Coming on September 22, 2020, Melissa will release the first book in her new series Murder in Devil’s Cove, a Book Magic Mystery.
Kerrin: Melissa congratulations on your two new releases! Please tell us a little about both of the novels.
Melissa:
Today’s release is Dough or Die, the fifth book in the Bread Shop Mystery series. The series follows Ivy Culpepper, photographer, apprentice baker, and amateur sleuth. Dough or Die centers around a reality TV show (think Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives). They’re looking for the best bakeries in America and Olaya Solis’s Yeast of Eden is at the top of the list! And, of course, murder happens!
Next month, on September 22nd, Murder in Devil’s Cove, the very first Book Magic mystery, releases. I am SO excited about this series! I’m writing it with a good friend, Wendy Lyn Watson. I’ve written the first book in the series, Wendy’s writing the second, then me, then her, etc. Our heroines are cousins and both have the gift (or curse) of bibliomancy. So far, the reviews for this book are wonderful!
Kerrin: The tag line on your website www.melissabourbon.com says “Cozy. Caper. Magical. Suspense. Pick your mystery”. How do you decide which books will fall into a particular category? Which of your books do you recommend for suspense readers?
Melissa:
The level of violence and/or sex helps determine what type of mystery category a book falls into. Cozies have the murders off the page, and sex isn’t part of the story. A little romance, maybe, but that’s it! My Magical Dressmaking Mysteries are cozies.
A caper, like my Lola Cruz mysteries, are a bit more fun and funny. They have some romping and adventure going on.
My mystery suspense books are Silent Echoes and Silent Obsession. They come in a boxed set called Deadly Legends (free if you’re a KU member)! In these books, the mysteries are more intense, there could be some violence on the page, and there is some sexiness.
Kerrin: I enjoy your Lola Cruz mystery series. Lola is a fierce Latina woman working as a private investigator in Sacramento, CA. You are Latina-by-marriage and have one daughter and four sons. To what extent did your family influence your decision to make your protagonist Latina? How important was it that Lola identifies with her Latina roots?
Melissa:
Lola was greatly influenced by my love of my husband’s native culture. He’s first-generation Mexican-American.
The more I thought about Lola, the more I wanted to develop her as a woman straddling two cultures. I wanted her to be a character that lived the basic type of life that my own children do. They are Americans, but the Mexican culture infuses certain parts of their lives, most fundamentally through their experiences and relationships with their aunts, uncles, and cousins who have similar upbringings and backgrounds.
I created Lola to be a non-stereotypical Latina, someone like my daughter, who’s smart and strong, who loves her family for who they are, and who is not afraid to live the life she chooses, even if that life is different than the one her parents want for her. As for my boys, I wanted to show them some behind-the-scenes elements of a strong woman and how she can be uncompromising, loving, and so much more.
Kerrin: Where are the best places for readers to keep up with you?
Melissa:
Oh, gosh, so many places!
My Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MelissaBourbonWinnieArcherBooks
The Book Warriors, my online book club with fellow mystery writer Diane Kelly: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BookWarriors
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissabourbonbooks/
Thank you for having me!
And now for Melissa’s Recipe For Reader’s Recommendation:
Van Dough Focaccia
Can’t wait to read the “Bread” series