Episode 61: Sharon Farrow

Destination Mystery

Charlie stopped barking as soon as he saw me. I knew now why he had been quiet for the past few minutes. He'd been digging away in the dirt, which he resumed upon my arrival. I looked for his leash and spotted it a few yards away, half buried by the dirt he flung to all sides. I picked up the leash before Charlie could get to it first. As soon as I did, I also spied what appeared to be an animal bone. Most likely a deer. But when I turned to see what Charlie was digging up now, my heart sank. It was another bone, but not one belonging to a deer. In fact, it was far more than a bone. It was a human skull. -- Sharon Farrow, Blackberry Burial I am so excited to be talking to Sharon Farrow, and not just because I'm a fan of her Berry Basket Mystery Series. With her friend and fellow author Meg Mims, she also writes the delightful Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins Mysteries as D.E. Ireland. In fact, Sharon talks a little about how writing the first book in that series, Wouldn't It Be Deadly, was somewhat challenging to the friendship. Luckily, the partnership survived; not only are the books themselves great fun, I think Sharon and Meg win the Best Cozy Title Award with every novel. You can also check out her romances, written under the name Sharon Pisacreta. Truly, Sharon has written something for everyone! Sharon's Berry Basket mysteries make use of berries in every possible way -- as clues, as scones, as wine. Sharon gives a shout-out to her inspiration, The Blueberry Store in South Haven, MI, and I offer you a link to their mouth-watering Pinterest page. Blueberries, yum... Sharon also makes a great case for why cozies matter. Those of us who love them don't have to be convinced, but there are times when cozy novels are dismissed as unimportant. As Sharon says, there can be enormous comfort in a good cozy, and that is just as valuable an emotion as those generated by a good thriller or noir. She herself reads Laura Childs, Cleo Coyle, Bailey Cates (who was new to me, woot!), and she mentions her debt of gratitude to Gillian Roberts for her Amanda Pepper mysteries, which helped Sharon through a difficult time. I don't normally ask for comments, but if anyone wants to share a book that helped them through a rough go, I think that kind of recommendation is a real gift we can give each other. Here are Sharon's own mystery series, in order: Berry Basket Mysteries 1 - Dying for Strawberries 2 - Blackberry Burial 3 - Killed on Blueberry Hill (available for pre-order) Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins Mysteries 1 - Wouldn't It Be Deadly 2 - Move Your Blooming Corpse 3 - Get Me To The Grave On Time You can find Sharon at SharonFarrowAuthor.com, the D.E. Ireland Facebook page, and on Twitter as both @SharonFarrowBB and @DEIrelandAuthor. As always, if you'd rather read than listen, the transcript is below. Enjoy! -- Laura ************************************************************* Transcript of Interview with Sharon Farrow Laura Brennan: My guest today is the author of the Berry Basket Mysteries, delightful cozies full of friendship, warmth, and, of course, murder. But Sharon Farrow is no stranger to the genre. She is an award-winning author of romantic stand-alones, short stories, and -- as half of the writing team D.E. Ireland -- the Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins Mystery Series. Sharon, thank you for joining me. Sharon Farrow: Thank you for having me, Laura. LB: You’ve been writing professionally for quite a while. SF: Yes. LB: You had an award-winning debut novel. You kind of jumped onto the scene with Stolen Hearts. SF: Yes, that was gratifying because I didn’t grow up either reading romances or even planning on being a romance writer. And I sort of stumbled into the genre. And to have my first novel win Best First Book was a surprise and quite wonderful. So, yes, I’m very pleased about that. And I’m still surprised. Looking back,