Why do you write the genre that you write?
I’m a cozy kind of person and cozies are a natural fit for me. My favorite thing is to curl up with a nice “cuppa” tea (PG Tips with milk and sugar) a soft throw, and a good book with our sweet dog Mellie beside me. I’m also a total Anglophile after having lived in England once-upon-a-time. There I fell in love with the rolling green hills dotted with sheep, cozy English cottages and gardens, old churches, tea and scones and pubs where dogs nestled at their person’s feet. I can’t stand blood and gore and mindless violence. Although I enjoy reading psychological suspense and some darker, more gritty detective novels and police procedurals, I could never write them. Also, the one things all my books have in common (fiction and non-fiction) is humor, so that’s another natural fit for me to weave in humor in my cozies.

Tell us how you got into writing?
Ever since I read 103 books in the first grade, I knew I wanted to become a writer. In high school I was the editor of the school paper and years later, did the same thing in college. While majoring in journalism, I won a couple scholarships and internships to local newspapers. Shortly after graduating from college, however, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, which made me realize life is short and it was time to pursue my authorial dreams. I attended a couple writing conferences, made an editor guffaw, and received the news of my first non-fiction humor book contract (Dated Jekyll, Married Hyde) the week I turned forty. I wrote ten non-fiction books, then switched to fiction. My first novel, Dreaming In Black & White (chick lit) was published in 2005. That was followed by six more chick lit novels, including the award-winning Reconstructing Natalie. After writing 17 books in 12 years, however, I was exhausted and burned out and not sure I ever wanted to write again. I needed a break, as well as a steady paycheck and benefits, so I took a writing sabbatical and got a job in local government. Happily, my writing passion returned and after a decade away from the publishing world I received a 3-book contract from Crooked Lane to write cozy mysteries—a whole new genre for me, and one I love! My first cozy, Murder Most Sweet (A Bookish Baker Mystery) released in September 2020, and my second, Hope, Faith, & A Corpse (A Faith Chapel Mystery) came out in January 2021.

What’s next for you?
My second Bookish Baker mystery, Deadly Delights, comes out in June. Currently, I’m not contracted for any more books, but I’m hoping that will change soon and I’ll be continuing my Faith Chapel and Bookish Baker series.

Meanwhile, I’ve been playing around with something new for me—a historical novel set in England. Something I’ve been wanting to write for years but was nervous to attempt since I’ve never written historical fiction (but then I’d never written cozies before either). I’ve been doing some research off and on for the past couple years and recently the opening scene and title popped into my head, so now I’ve begun the actual writing. I’m excited (and honestly, a little terrified) to attempt this. England has been the land of my heart since I was stationed there years ago and the WWII era is my favorite historical time period, so I’m writing about two things I love. Too early to say anything more about it now, but we’ll see what happens. . .

What are you reading now?
Louise Penny’s All The Devils Are Here.

Where can we find you?
Website: laurajensenwalker.com 
Facebook: facebook.com/laura.j.walker.33
Twitter: twitter.com/laurajensenwal1
Instagram: instagram.com/laurajensenwalker

Now to have some fun . . .

Vanilla or chocolate
Chocolate. Always. (Unless it’s a hot fudge sundae. Then it’s gotta be vanilla.)

Pizza or burgers
Depends. I love a nice juicy cheeseburger (especially mushroom-Swiss cheeseburgers) but there’s nothing like a good sausage-and-mushroom pizza (never pepperoni) with lots of cheese fresh from the pizza oven. Okay, now I want pizza!

Broccoli or squash
Broccoli.

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Tie between breakfast and dinner.

Mountain or beach
That’s a tough one. Although I live in California, I’m definitely not a SoCal sun-and-beach girl. I hate crowded beaches and prefer a rugged, solitary beach like the ones in Northern California or Cornwall, England. I also love the mountains—just depends on my mood.

Introvert or Extrovert
Introvert.

My bio:
Laura Jensen Walker has loved mysteries ever since she read Trixie Belden in the fourth grade in her Danish-founded hometown of Racine, Wisconsin. A former newspaper reporter and the author of several non-fiction books and novels including Murder Most Sweet and Hope, Faith, & A Corpse, Laura lives in in Northern California with her Renaissance-man husband and their canine daughter, Mellie. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.