Diner Time!

I'm pleased to welcome Christine Wenger back to Cozy Up With Kathy. Chris writes the Comfort Food Mystery series. Diner's Drive-Ins, and Death, the third in the series, is being released today!

                                              

Kathy: In Diner's Drive-Ins, and Death Trixie is helping ACB open a drive in movie theatre next to her diner. I remember going to drive-ins as a kid, but they seem all but extinct today. Are there any drive-ins near you? Or do you just have find memories of them?

CW: We have one drive-in that’s in Fulton (NY) that had a flood or a fire (can’t remember) and I was worried that it wouldn’t rebuild, but the owner said that he will! Happy-happy! I do have very fond memories of my sister, my brother and I wearing our pajamas to the drive-in and sharing a brown grocery bag full of popcorn that my mother made and drinking Kool-Aid that she made. I don’t think my brother ever saw a movie at the drive-in. He’d sleep on the window ledge (behind the back seat) like it was a balcony. LOL. Oh, and we’d play on the playground below the big screen before the movie started. And the movie audio was awful, and the mosquitos came in through the open window. But that was part of the drive-in experience. What great times, and I can remember them like it was yesterday! I put some of those memories into Diner's Drive-Ins, and Death!


Kathy: I look forward to reading the recipes you include in your mysteries. Where do you get them and how do you choose which ones to include?

CW: I try to put in recipes that might relate to the book. For instance, I have a popcorn recipe in this book. Every recipe I put in is from a friend or a relative.


Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for this story?

CW: Not really. But as I write, certain things from my life inspire me. It could be some characteristics of a friend, or an acquaintance, or myself.


Kathy: When it comes to writing I understand there are 2 general camps-plotters, who diligently plot their stories, and pansters, who fly by the seat of their pants. Are you a plotter, a panster, or do you fall somewhere in between?

CW: I have to have some kind of road map because my publisher (Obsidian) needs to know what they are buying! But I fill in the blanks myself and sometimes take a detour-which may work, or it may not!


Kathy: Are you able to share any future plans for Trixie Matkowski?

CW: I love writing Trixie Matkowski stories, and I’ll keep writing about her as long as readers keep buying the books! I have had wonderful compliments about Trixie, and readers do want more, so I’ll keep writing them!


Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books?

CW: I have a scathingly brilliant idea for Trixie’s next mystery that takes place during the Christmas season. Oh, and I have a Halloween mystery for Trixie to solve also.


Kathy: A new interview section-this or that. Pick one of the 2 choices given.


Library or Bookstore –

CW: Bookstore. I love to increase my own library.


Expositional or Continuing Story –
Continuing Story


Editing or Marketing –

CW: Marketing.


TV or Film –

CW: Both!


Chocolate or Vanilla –

CW: Both!


Mountains or Beach-

CW: Beach. I love water. It’s so mesmerizing and cleansing.


Tea or Coffee –

CW: Coffee mostly, but I do love ice tea.


Cats or Dogs -

CW: I love to cuddle with kitties, but I have a big dog, a three-year old Golden Retriever by the name of Blondie that I feature in every book. She's also on my covers! She's too big to really cuddle, but I keep trying!

Summer or Winter -

CW: I love snow up until Christmas, then I want the stuff to go! I love summer the most: flowers, the smell of freshly cut grass, going to the beach, barbecuing, having picnics…and going to the drive-in!


Normal or Paranormal –

CW: Normal. Usually, I don’t “get” paranormal stories!


Vampire or Werewolf –

CW: None of the above! Give me a hot cowboy any day!