Now it’s time to learn more about the authors we read. . .

Why do you write the genre that you write?
I go where the stories take me. For a long time, that’s been the cozy mystery—the stories of women compelled into action when danger threatens the place they love, whether that’s a small town in Montana or a community-within-a-community, Pike Place Market in Seattle. That I get to slip in recipes and humor is a bonus! Other stories are better called suspense, exploring deeper aspects of the human heart, unpeeling layers of conflict and betrayal. My next project is historical, presenting a slice of life in the American West through Mary Fields, a real life woman who was born into slavery in 1832 and lived the last thirty years of her life, 1885 to 1914, in or near St. Peter’s Mission outside Cascade, Montana.

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?
Holy marjoroly! Parsley poop! Pepper Reece, the star of my Spice Shop mysteries, swears in spice wordplay. Stay on her good side, if you don’t want to be a pain in the anise.

How did you come up with your pseudonym?
I write suspense as Alicia Beckman, a name that honors my mother and grandmother. In the first book, Bitterroot Lake, the main characters’ great-grandparents feature in the backstory, and I kept a photo of my own great-grandparents, the Beckmans, on my desk as inspiration. They were my physical image of Sarah’s ancestors, though their personal stories are nothing alike.

Tell us how you got into writing?
I started writing at 4, on my father’s desk—quite literally. I did not yet understand the concept of paper. Fortunately, my parents did, and kept me well supplied in paper and pens. A while back, during a difficult time, my creative impulses emerged both as my refuge and my path forward. I also love to cook, paint, and garden, but writing is my true passion.

What jobs have you held before, during and/or after you became a writer?
I’ve been a practicing lawyer for forty years – e-gad – though these days, I practice only enough to keep the bar memberships active! As a teenager, I worked in a bookstore, great training for a future writer!

How many books do you have published?
The 17th, To Err is Cumin, came out August 6. The 18th, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, will be out September 17.

Where do you write?
In a 2d story bedroom in our home, in the woods in NW Montana. Heaven? Yes!

What is your favorite deadline snack?
Dark chocolate.

Who is an author you admire?
So many! Rhys Bowen for stories that keep me up too late. Deborah Crombie for characters I feel like I know. Ivan Doig for telling the stories of Montana, the place that gripped his heart and mine. Toni Morrison for taking us deep into dark places, with mesmerizing language and plots. I could go on . . .

What’s your favorite genre to read?
Mysteries and historical fiction.

What are you reading now?
A Very Woodsy Murder by Ellen Byron and A Case for the Ladies by Maddie Day.

What is your favorite beverage to end the day?
A glass of wine.

What is next for you?
My historical short story collection, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, will be out September 17. I’m working on the 9th Spice Shop mystery, out in July 2025.

Where can we find you?
In those wood! Online, at LeslieBudewitz.com, on Facebook as LeslieBudewitzAuthor, on Instagram, and on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, on alternate Tuesdays, at www.MysteryLoversKitchen.com.

Now to have some fun . . .

Chocolate, vanilla, or another flavor
I’m still mourning the loss of Tillamook’s Oregon Hazelnut Ice Cream with Salted Caramel, which we always doused with homemade chocolate-Cabernet sauce.

Ice cream or cake
Pie

Fruits or vegetables
Veggies

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner
My three favorite meals!

Dining in or dining out
Yes!

City life or country living
Loved my city life, but I’m not going back!

Beach or mountain
Do you have to ask?

Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall
Summer, because it’s so glorious here! But I love them all.

Extrovert or introvert
For years, I called myself a noisy introvert, and then I heard the term ambivert. C’est moi!

Early bird or night owl
Not really either one.

And even more fun . . .

What’s your favorite movie?
Casablanca

You are stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
A boat and a map. Only two, I know, but I don’t plan to stay!

My bio:
Leslie Budewitz writes the Spice Shop mysteries set in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, along with the Food Lovers’ Village series and historical short mysteries set in Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes stand-alone suspense. A three-time Agatha-Award winner, past president of Sisters in Crime, and former board member of Mystery Writers of America, she lives in NW Montana. Read excerpts and find out more at LeslieBudewitz.com.