After enjoying a murderous adventure in Cape Cod, I did a little sleuthing of my own to learn more about author Vicki Delany. She is not a one murder gal. Presently, she has five active series under two author names (Vicki Delany and Eva Gates), and has written so many books that she is not exactly sure how many to claim. She is also pretty sure her latest will be book number 58. I had the privilege of chatting with her to find out how someone becomes, in her words, “a one-woman crime wave”.
A Conversation With Vicki Delany
Jodi Webb: Since this interview is for Tea Journey, let us start with the most important question: What is your favorite tea?
Vicki Delany: Every day, I enjoy my English Breakfast tea; it is hearty and tasty. But for special Lapsang Souchong.
Jodi: Do you consider yourself more a tea or coffee person?
Vicki: I must confess I am more of a coffee drinker. Coffee is my morning drink, but in the afternoons, it is always tea. Even as we speak, I have a plain old hearty English Breakfast.
Jodi: You have written cozy mystery series in bookstores, libraries, resorts, and a town that revolves around Christmas. What made you think that a tea shop would be the perfect setting for a series?
Vicki: My youngest daughter is a tea lover. We love to go for afternoon tea for her birthday or a special occasion. So, when I was thinking of a new series, I thought of a tea shop. I like a place where I can get into the details — the baking, the tea cups. They have a high turnover of people to be suspects, red herrings, and she [Lily Roberts of the Tea by the Sea series] cooks breakfast for the bed & breakfast, which means more people.
Jodi: I can attest that your descriptions are rich and, in the case of the food, make you hungry for things you never even heard of before. I have just finished Tea with Jam & Dread, and I am craving Coronation Chicken. Can you tell us a little about how you became a writer?
Vicki: I was a computer programmer in the old days of COBOL, then a systems analyst at a bank, and not terribly happy at it. As it got more complicated, I was not enjoying it, and I thought, “Maybe I will try my hand at writing a book.” I took some creative writing courses at the community college and wrote my first novel while I was still at the bank.
Jodi: I am amazed by the fact that you have had about 55 books published in about 25 years. How are you publishing multiple books per year?
Vicki: Initially, I started slowly. My first book took four years, and now I write four a year. One each for the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop, Lighthouse Library, Christmas Village, and Tea by the Sea. I write one book from beginning to end. Of course, sometimes I am working on edits of one while writing another. But the character and tone are different for each series, so I like to keep them separated.
Jodi: In your BA life (before author), you were a computer programmer and a mom. Nothing that screams, I could plan/solve a murder if necessary. So, how did you figure out the world of murders?
Vicki: My earlier books were a police detective series in British Columbia, so I did have contacts in the police department. With cozies, there is a little suspension of belief, so I don’t have to get into technical details like autopsy reports. My sleuths are amateurs. There is so much research you can do online. Of course, you still have to verify it.
For location, nothing is like going to a place. I had been to Cape Cod years ago. However, I went back to have a look around and see if it was a place for my book [the series Tea by the Sea]. My daughter and I visited England, and we also had tea at the Roslin. [The latest Tea by the Sea book, Tea with Jam & Dread, takes place in England.]
Jodi: What is the most surprising thing you have learned as an author?
Vicki: The personal history and culture of the mystery community. Not just the writing community, but also the reading community. Friends made online, at conferences, it was not something I expected.
Jodi: What lies next for you?
Vicki: On May 6, “Shot Through the Book” is released. This makes it number 12 in the Lighthouse Library series, which makes it my longest-running series. Later, in July, my new book, Tea with Jam and Dread, will be released.
Jodi: Thank you for your time. We will let you get back to writing, editing, and enjoying English Breakfast tea.
Tea with Jam and Dread by Vicki Delaney
Vicki Delany – http://vickidelany.com/
Sherlock Holmes series – http://vickidelany.com/?page_id=980
Lighthouse Library – http://vickidelany.com/?page_id=994
Tea by the Sea – http://vickidelany.com/?page_id=1017
Year Round Christmas – http://vickidelany.com/?page_id=1025
Shot Through the Book – https://www.amazon.com/Shot-Through-Lighthouse-Library-Mystery/dp/B0DCFWYJ9S
Tea with Jam and Dread – https://www.amazon.com/Tea-Jam-Dread-Sea-Mysteries/dp/1496747305
See Related
Jesse Q. Sutanto on Tea and Murder | Interview by Jodi M. Webb
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane | Review by Kyle Whittington
