A Word With Laurien Berenson

Why do you write the genre that you write?I’ve always been an avid mystery reader. Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew were childhood favorites and my obsession grew from there. I love cozy mysteries, both as a writer and a reader, because they are “feel...

A Word With Carolyn Haines

Why do you write the genre that you write?My first love was Southern short stories. I fell madly in love with the works of Flannery O’Connor and Eudora Welty, among others. My ambition was to write short stories, until my agent urged me to write novels instead....

A Word With Donna Andrews

Why do you write the genre that you write?I think most of us write what we read. I grew up reading a whole lot of fantasy, along with some mystery and science fiction—Freddy the Detective, Sherlock Holmes, the Hardy Boys, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Three Investigators...

A Word With Lori Robbins

Why do you write the genre that you write?I write traditional mysteries, because on a fundamental level they deal with justice. The resolution of a criminal investigation provides the kind of satisfying conclusion that often isn’t available to us in real life and is...

A Word With Aaron Philip Clark

Why do you write the genre that you write?I think Jo Nesbø encapsulated it best when he said, “Crime fiction is a genre for writing stories about people—about conflict, about guilt, about passion, about the human condition.” There’s so much freedom in writing crime...

A Word With Susan Van Kirk

Why do you write the genre you write?I’ve always been a mystery reader, but I abhor violence and can’t stand the sight of blood—especially my own. I loved Agatha Christie and all the Sherlock Holmes mysteries when I was growing up. The cozy mystery genre seemed to fit...