Episode 54: Kirsten Weiss

Destination Mystery

All I could see was the dress. The ghost of weddings past, it swept above the checkered linoleum floor and rooted me in place. My heart twisted, leaving me breathless. I jolted into motion. The quiche, forgotten, slipped sideways on my oven mitts. I steadied it and gaped through the kitchen window to the pie shop's dining area. No. No, no, no. -- Kirsten Weiss, The Quiche and the Dead Kirsten Weiss came to writing via Africa, Eastern Europe, Afghanistan, and a certain metaphysical detective, whom she invented one windy, rainy afternoon. The Riga Hayworth novels were only the beginning; Kirsten has multiple series in a variety of genres, but her books are all mysteries at heart. Her latest book doesn't just fit squarely into the cozy genre, it nails it. The Quiche and the Dead hits all the high notes. We talk about the new series, the joys of paranormal mysteries, and how transformative micro-loans can be. I can't possibly list all of Kirsten's series in order, so I will instead link you directly to her website, where you can find all seven (7!) of her series under the Books tab. Each page gives you the series order. In addition, she has the most fun extras on her site: fortune telling here, kitchen witchery there. And for those who just can't get enough, she and Elizabeth Barton teach an online course on Everyday Magic. You can also find her on Pinterest, and I highly recommend that you do. Kirsten gives a nod to some first-rate authors, among them P.G. Wodehouse, Oscar Wilde, Agatha Christie, and -- not his usual company! -- Stephen King. When we chatted Steampunk, I had to give a fan-girl shout-out to Gail Carriger, whose books I adore. For those who would rather read than listen, the transcript is below. Enjoy! -- Laura ******************************************************************************** Transcript of interview with Kirsten Weiss Laura Brennan: My guest today makes writing seem effortless. Her multiple series include the Paranormal Museum cozies, the Doyle cozy mysteries, the Doyle Witch cozies, the Pie Town Mysteries, the Sensibility Grey Steampunk Suspense novels, plus other series and stories included in various anthologies… Kirsten, thank you for joining me. Kirsten Weiss: Thank you for having me. LB: One of the themes in cozies, and it's in the Quiche and the Dead, your latest novel and the first in your Pie Town mysteries, is a woman starting over. But that's your story too, right? That's how you first got yourself into writing? KW: Yes. I had worked overseas in something called microcredit for years and years and years. And I'd been in all these crazy places, I'd been to Eastern Europe, I'd worked in Afghanistan, I worked in Africa, and there was a point where I just had to come home for various reasons. And I thought all the stuff I'd done overseas, I figured I cab make this transition really easily. It actually turned out to be a really difficult transition. I struggled, I ended up unemployed for a long time, ended up with a job that I just wasn't suited for and I eventually quit that because I was quite certain I was going to be fired, although that turned out not to be true. But I quit, and it was a rainy, stormy day and I was driving down the street, the wind was lashing my windshield and the trees were tossing, and I was kind of brainstorming by myself what kind of potential jobs I could do. When you brainstorm, there's no such thing as a bad idea. As I came up with "private detective." And then the phrase, "metaphysical detective" popped into my head. Then I thought, what the heck is a metaphysical detective? And I started piecing together this character named Riga Hayworth who was a metaphysical detective in San Francisco. So I wrote this book, and that led to the second book, and then I just kept on writing and writing and writing. Now it's what I do. LB: That's so neat. Now, I actually do want to talk a little bit about microcredit.