Readers, ever have one of those weeks when everything goes wrong? I made a big goof earlier this month. I was
supposed to have posted an interview with author Josi Kilpack for her BAKED
ALASKA blog tour. Unfortunately, cyberspace ate the interview. At least, it
disappeared. To attempt to make up this
misfortune, I have the interview here today.
Trumpets, please! Since I can’t be certain whether
cyberspace or my computer was to blame, I’m offering an e-copy of Josi’s book,
BAKED ALASKA, to one person who comments on this blog.
Now, here’s the interview:
 |
| Josi S Kilpack, Author |
Caroline: Readers
love knowing more about authors whose books they read. Tell us something about
your growing up.
Josi: I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. I am the third of
nine kids, my dad was a teacher and my mom stayed home. We had a huge garden,
which I hated, and canned everything, which I also hated. Our family was five
girls at the top and then four boys, so I had two sisters just older and two
more just younger. It was . . . intense. There was always something to do,
someone to play with and someone to pick on. We were a wild crazy bunch and I
thought books were about the worst thing in the world. I avoided them like the
plague until 7th grade when the switch was flipped and I became a reader. That
is a day that changed my life.
I grew up, graduated from high-school, went to college for a
year and then married my cute husband. We have gone on to have four kids, ages
18-11 and after many years of counting the days until they were gone, I’m not
panicking at the realization that they really are leaving. I’m trying to soak
up everything I can in hopes of having as few regrets as possible.
Caroline: I loved having my children at home with us, but
they do need to go out on their own eventually, don’t they? Who are your
favorite authors and favorite genres?
Josi: This is a hard one for me because it’s changed so much
over the years. There was a time when I loved Romance and it was all I would
read, now I am very selective of Romance. I love suspense but find a lot of
Thrillers to be too gory or crass for me, so I am selective about that too. I’m
not a big fan of Fantasy, yet I loved Harry Potter and Fablehaven. I tend to
read a little bit of everything when I find an author I like, I read everything
they’ve written. My current favorites are Lief Enger, Sue Grafton, and Kate
Morton.
Caroline: I like those types of mysteries, too. What’s your
favorite way to relax and recharge? Hobbies?
Josi: I relax by taking a nap, or crocheting, or playing a
hand held Tetris game. At least, that’s what I’m doing this month. Next month I
might be cleaning out closets or running or maybe fixing up my chicken coop. I
am a busy person, I like having things to do and love the sense of
accomplishment when a task is finished. I write to escape basic chores and then
to basic chores to escape writing. I like a clean house, lunch with friends,
and watching movies.
Caroline: Taking a nap sounds great right now. Do you have a
favorite quote that sums up how you feel about life?
Josi: “Use your talents, for use is why they were made. What
is a Sundial in the Shade?” by Benjamin Franklin.
Caroline: That’s one of his I hadn’t heard, but I love it.
Joai: It took me awhile to believe I had any talents, and then
even longer to really embrace it and see what it could do for my life. Since
then I have become passionate about the topic of growing our gifts into talents
and really getting the most out of them. This quote sums that up for me because
if we insist in not exploring our talents, they will not be of use to us just
as a sundial is nothing more than a statue if it isn’t brought into the
sunlight.
Caroline: How long have you been writing?
Josi: I started my first book when I was on bed rest with my
son. He just turned 14, so I’ve been writing for nearly fifteen years. My first
book was published in 2000.
Caroline: Where do you prefer to write? Do you need quiet,
music, solitude?
Josi: I need quiet and I need clean, which is why I don’t
get much writing done at home. It’s too easy for me to abandon the writing when
it gets hard in favor or some chore that will make me feel better. I do most of
my writing at an office my husband and I own and run a business out of. I am
good to write alone, but I often write with friends. We get together a couple
of times a week at my office and work on our projects. It’s wonderful! We can
brainstorm with each other, take a break to talk about life, but we all understand
that we need the time to be effective and we get a lot of things done.
Caroline: That sounds like a great arrangement. Are you a
plotter or a panzer?
Josi: Panzer. Oh how I hate it! I have tried and tried to
plot, and I do a great deal of it through the course of writing when I get
stuck, but I have not yet figured out how to plot out the story before I begin
writing it. I guess I shouldn’t complain, since it works for me, but it
stresses me out a great deal. I’m always certain that plotters have it easier
than I do.
Caroline: I firmly believe writing is never easy, but
plotting makes it easier for me. Do you use real events or persons in your
stories or as an inspiration for stories?
Josi: All the time. It’s amazing the character I can grow
out of a woman I see at the mall, or the conflict I can create from overhearing
someone’s cell phone conversation. It inevitably morphs into something very
different than the original inspiration, but I feel like I am sucking up ideas
everywhere I go.
Caroline: Do you set daily writing goals? Word count? Number
of chapters? Do you get a chance to write every day?
Josi: I don’t get to write every day and I currently have no
daily goals. I just write when I can and hope and pray that I’m being diligent
enough that I don’t end up in panic mode. That said, the last three books I’ve
written have all being on hyper-panic mode. The one I’m working on now is
actually going well so I’m hoping to avoid the worst of it.
Caroline: What do you hope your writing brings to readers?
Josi: I hope my readers have a really good time reading my
books. If they get a fresh perspective on a specific element of the book, it’s
even better, but I consider myself an entertainer, not a motivational speaker,
or educator. I’m here to tell a good story that takes them away for a little
while and, hopefully, inspires a yummy meal or two J
Caroline: What long-term plans do you have for your career?
Josi: I haven’t put much thought into that. I am writing
with such tight deadlines that I haven’t had much time to develop what comes
next. We are planning 12 books in the Sadie series, and then a cumulative
cookbook after the series is done. I’m excited to see how the rest of the
series turns out. After that, I’m just not sure. I guess we’ll all see.
Caroline: Would you like to tell us what you’re working on
now?
Josi: I am working on “Rocky Road,” book 10 in the Sadie
Hoffmiller series. It takes place in St. George, Utah and involves a missing
person case. It’s been fun to write about a place I’m somewhat familiar with
and it’s coming together nicely. I also just finished edits on “Shannon” which
is my second volume in the Newport Ladies Bookclub Series I’ve written with
Julie Wright, Annette Lyon, and Heather Moore. Both projects have been really
fun.
Caroline: What advice would you give to unpublished authors?
Josi: Learn your craft. Attend conferences. Learn your
craft. Find a critique group. Learn your craft. Meet other writers. Learn your
craft. Write. Learn your craft. Read. Learn your craft. Revise. Learn your
craft. Don’t give up. Learn your craft. Don’t get cocky. Learn your craft.
Caroline: Very good advice. What’s a fun fact readers
wouldn’t know about you?
Josi: I was a really lousy cook when I got married. I
thought I was good and that I knew how to cook, but quickly learned that though
I made a mean chocolate chip cookie, my actually cooking skills were abysmal.
Luckily, my husband was easy to please and I was stubborn. I look back and
shake my head at the amount of Hamburger Helper I cooked up . . . every single
night. I’ve come a long way.
Caroline: What is something about you that would surprise or
shock readers?
Josi: I don’t read culinary mysteries. I’ve tried a few, but
they were either boring, dumb, or talked about gourmet food that made ME feel
dumb. I didn’t write Lemon Tart with the expectation of including recipes, that
came later, and I have yet to find a culinary mystery I liked enough to read to
the end.
Caroline: I’ve read a few I like. Is your book a series? If
so, how long? Family saga, other?
Josi: It is a series but it’s considered a stand alone
series which means you can read the books out of order without being confused
or having the plots of the other books given away. That said, if you can start
at the beginning, you’ll get the full benefit of the character growth that
takes place along the course of the series, but it isn’t essential.
Caroline: I try to write my series books that way too. Can
you give readers a blurb about your book?
Josi: Here’s the blurb for BAKED ALASKA:
An Alaskan cruise is the setting for amateur detective Sadie
Hoffmillers latest adventure. Sadie plans to spend time relaxing with her two
grown children, Breanna and Shawn, and her boyfriend, Pete, while enjoying the
luxury and cuisine of an elegant cruise ship and helping to plan her daughters
upcoming wedding. But even as the crew prepares to leave port, Sadie has
suspicions about the voyage ahead and the relationship between her normally
easygoing son and a mysterious female passenger he obviously knows but refuses
to discuss. When the woman is discovered unconscious during the second night at
sea, Sadies apprehension escalates. Over the last few years, Sadie has
developed an extreme dislike for secrets and it would seem her son is keeping
one from her. *Includes eight new mouthwatering recipes, tested and approved by
the official bakers of Sadies Virtual Test Kitchen. *Josi’s culinary mysteries
have become favorites with members of Goodreads and other book networking
sites. *Readers guide available online.
Caroline: How about an excerpt?
Josi: Here’s one from Chapter 5:
Sadie ate another crepe and turned her worry from Pete’s
opinions of her actions, to Breanna’s conflicts with the wedding. She couldn’t
believe that Liam’s mother would take things over this extent. Carriages? Eight
thousand dollars in flowers? Did the woman not know Breanna at all? Had she no
respect for Sadie’s position as mother of the bride?
When those thoughts got too heavy, she ate yet another crepe
and worried about Shawn again. Finally, about the time she felt ready to
explode from both crepes and worry, the three of them made their way out of the
dining room and Shawn said he was going to check out one of the clubs. Sadie
stiffened. “You go to clubs?”
“Mom, I’m twenty-three.”
“What does being twenty-three have to do with going to clubs?
I was twenty-three once and I never went to clubs. Breanna didn’t go to clubs
when she was twenty-three.” Shawn had been away at college for four years—he
had walked with his graduating class just last month, but had two online
classes he needed to finish up this summer in order to complete his degree in
criminal justice. During these years that he’d been so many states away, she
always pictured him studying when she worried where he was or what he might be
doing at any given time. Could he be one of those college kids that went to
frat parties and locked their friends in the trunk of their car as a joke? Oh,
she certainly hoped not. She’d been locked in the trunk of a car before and it
was horrid.
“Pete, maybe you can
explain it to her,” Shawn said as they exited the dining room.
Pete draped his arm over Sadie’s shoulder and gave Shawn a
nod. “I’ve got your back.” They both made a fist they then tapped them
together. What on earth was that all about?
Sadie turned her head
to look at Pete. “You’re supporting this kind of behavior?”
Pete steered her toward the open deck, away from Shawn. “We
talked about this,” he reminded her as the doors whooshed open. He guided her
across the open deck toward the stairs leading to Deck Thirteen Forward; where
they’d gone last night. The ever-determined hot-tubbers were there again,
basking in the steaming water and occasionally running across the deck to jump
into the swimming pool. She’d worn better pants tonight and didn’t feel so
chilled by the dropping temperatures, but could not imagine wearing a swim
suit, let alone getting wet. On the port side of the hot tubs, someone seemed
to be asleep on a deck chair and Sadie shook her head. Weren’t they cold? It
had to be close to forty degrees tonight.
“I can’t believe he goes to clubs,” Sadie said when they
reached the top of the stairs. They had the deck to themselves again. She
waited until Pete looked at her and narrowed her eyes. “And I can’t believe
you’re supporting him in that.”
“You’re going to let Shawn be a grown-up, remember?”
Caroline: That made me smile. How can readers learn more
about you?
Thanks, Josi, and continued success with your books.
Readers, don’t forget to include your email with your comment
to be entered for a free e-copy of Josi’s book, BAKED ALASKA.
Thanks for stopping by!
