Why do you write the genre that you write?
I’ve always read mysteries, especially enjoying long running series. I love dipping back into the characters’ lives from book to book, and visiting a setting that I’ve grown to know. I also love the sense that forces of evil will be defeated over the course of a mystery, and order restored. So that is what I write!

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?
Even though Hayley Snow is the heroine in the Key West food critic mystery series, I think the most popular character is her octogenarian neighbor, Miss Gloria. She is exactly the kind of older person that people aspire to becoming. She’s loving, nosy, vibrant, and up for anything. She often gets in over her head, but friends and a great sense of humor, help her survive.

How did you come up with your pseudonym?
My first two shorter mystery series, the golf lovers’ mysteries, and the advice column mysteries were written under my real name, Roberta Isleib. When my agent sold a third series to NAL, they asked if I would consider changing my name for a fresh start. This was fine with me! I chose my maternal grandmother’s name, Lucy Burdette. She died younger than she should have, and I like the idea that I carry her forward with me.

Tell us how you got into writing?
My previous career was as a clinical psychologist in private practice. I think my interest in understanding what makes people tick, while seeing them in long-term therapy, transfers perfectly to the skills needed for writing a long series. I can’t explain exactly how this happened, but I consider it my midlife crisis!

What jobs have you held before, during and/or after you became a writer?
As mentioned, clinical psychologist. But I have also worked as a vocational rehabilitation counselor, a bookstore clerk, a waitress, a motel cleaner…

Where do you write?
I spend an awful lot of time writing in bed, which I know is dreadful for sleep hygiene. I also dictate bits of my stories, and that I can do anywhere, at the park, while walking the dog, etc. etc.

What is your favorite deadline snack?
A local farm and food shop makes some amazing and addictive caramel corn with maple syrup flavoring. In fact, I am going in search of some right now…

Who is an author you admire?
I know so many fine writers, and admire them all, so it’s hard to choose. I will mention Ann Cleeves. She has written three series that I adore, and she is a wizard with character, plot, and setting. She’s not a young flash in the pan. She’s an experienced writer, who has kept her nose to the grindstone—getting better and better, and writing only what interests her. She is gracious and generous, so I might read her books even if they weren’t amazing! (Which of course, they are.)

What’s your favorite genre to read?
Crime fiction naturally, but I also enjoy women’s fiction and memoir. With a dash of romance from time to time.

What are you reading now?
Ann Cleeves The Raging Storm

What is your favorite beverage to end the day?
We call it sparkle water in my house, with a slice of lime.

What is next for you?
Soon I’ll have the edits back from the publisher on Key West food critic mystery #14, and then it will be time to start #15. Meanwhile I’m noodling around with an idea about a young woman who’s gone to Paris to find her birth father.

Where can we find you?
LucyBurdette.com, Facebook @LucyBurdette, JungleRedWriters.com, MysteryLoversKitchen.com

Now to have some fun . . .

Chocolate or vanilla
Chocolate, but only because the hub and kids have nudged me that way.

Cake or ice cream
Definitely cake!

Fruits or vegetables
Vegetables, from John’s garden.

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Am I eating out? In that case, breakfast.

Dining in or dining out
Dining in is more relaxing, but dining out, a treat for the chef.

City life or country living
City

Beach or mountain
Beach

Summer or winter
Summer

Short story or full-length novel
Absolutely full length.

Extrovert or introvert
More I than E

Early bird or night owl
Earlyish bird 🙂

And even more fun . . .

What is your favorite movie?
Sleepless In Seattle

You are stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
My pets, my husband, a stack of books

My bio:
Clinical psychologist Lucy Burdette aka Roberta Isleib is the author of 23 mysteries, including USA Today bestseller A Clue In The Crumbs (Crooked Lane Books.) Both the twelfth book in her Key West series, A Dish To Die For, and the tenth, The Key Lime Crime, won the Florida Book Award’s bronze medal for popular fiction. Her first women’s fiction title, The Ingredients Of Happiness and her first thriller, Unsafe Haven, have been published by Severn House. Her books and stories have been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She’s a past president of Sisters in Crime, and currently president of the Friends of the Key West Library.