Interview with Mitzi Kelly

Mitzi Kelly writes cozy mysteries for Avalon, and today, we will learn all about her latest release called Deadly Policy!

Please tell us about your latest book:

DEADLY POLICY is the second book in The Silver Sleuths Mystery Series, the ‘coziest’ of the cozy mystery genre. The three main characters are elderly friends who are coffee-drinking, chocolate-cake-eating fanatics. They fell into amateur detective work when trying to defend a friend against a murder charge, and with that success, they end up sticking their collective noses into stuff that would be better left to the real detectives. DEADLY POLICY is their second adventure and it’s filled with good humor, high jinx and suspense.

It sounds like a wonderful premise with lots of fun! Would you reveal to us what you personally like most about this novel?

I’d have to say it’s the relationship and interaction between the characters. The suspense aspect is fun, but the love and loyalty among the friends is heartwarming. And, what is especially fun, is that they are all of an age where they can say and do anything . . . and get away with it!

Oh, yes, that does remind me of some people I know . . . so have you developed the plot from something you’ve experienced personally?

Thankfully, I’ve never been in a ‘crime’ situation before. Now, some of the dialog and minor action scenes are very familiar. For example, driving around with some close friends to snoop on somebody . . . oh, yeah, been there!

Have you published any other novels?

My other published work, CLASSIC REVENGE, is the first book in this series and was released in 2010. I published some human interest articles for a local magazine before I started novel writing. Fiction is so much more fun!

I agree with that! When did you start to write your first novel and how long did it take you to become published?

CLASSIC REVENGE was my first published novel. From the time I first queried the editor at Avalon with my idea, to the release date, was approximately two years. The waiting time for the idea to be accepted, and then the book accepted, was the longest part of the process. They say patience is a virtue. Whoever said that didn’t have to wait two years!

We can all tell long stories about that, so we feel with you! What is the most useless achievement in your life (besides waiting, obviously)?

Oh, gosh, there are so many . . . Okay, it has to be laying ceramic tile. Not that it’s a useless task in itself; it’s just that it’s useless to me because I will never, ever do that again!

It sounds as if there's another story lurking here . . . What is the funniest thing that ever happened to you as an author?

I hope I can explain this to where you can ‘see’ what happened! During the release party for CLASSIC REVENGE, I was fortunate to have my brother, Stan, give a speech. I was almost in tears it was such a beautiful tribute. The crowd had gathered around while he spoke, and toward the end he asked that everybody raise whatever was in their hand for a toast. I swallowed the emotion, reached for my wine glass and looked up to thank everybody when I noticed they were all holding toast. Actual toast!! Somehow, without me noticing it, Stan had passed out slices of toast that he had prepared earlier in the day. The crowd burst out in laughter and one by one, they brought me their toast. I’ll never forget that as long as I live!

That is one great anecdote! Your bother sounds wonderful. Okay, here's my last question:What do you do when you’re not writing:

Sleep.

Love that answer . . . ! I can't wait to read Deadly Policy, and we all wish you a lot of success with this novel, Mitzi! 

To learn more, check out Mitzi's website: http://www.mitzikelly.com/