A Wicked Welcome Back to Laura Bradford

Jane/Susannah/Sadie here, dreaming of daffodils…

I’m super excited to bring Laura Bradford, a/k/a Elizabeth Lynn Casey, back to the Wickeds. I asked her some questions recently, and here’s what she had to say:

1. Tell us about yourself.

I’m a mom. I’ve wanted to write since I was ten. I’ve had 29 books contracted since being diagnosed with MS in the summer of 2006.  I love—and I mean, love—to bake (and eat). And if I could only vacation to one place for the rest of my life, I would choose Disney World—I love the innocent joy and the way it lifts my spirits.

2. Tell us about your series.

How about I tell you about two of them? 😉

First, some quick background on the Emergency Dessert Squad Mysteries, before I get to talk of the latest book.

When the series begins with Éclair and Present Danger, Winnie Johnson (my protagonist) owns a bakery. It’s all she’s ever wanted to do with her life. But the rising cost of rent on the shop soon threatens everything. When she learns she’s been named in a good friend’s will, she thinks she has a chance to stay open. Unfortunately, she soon learns she wasn’t left money but, rather, an old vintage ambulance and a cat that hates the very sight of Winnie. Forced to close her bakery, Winnie is left wondering what she’ll do now. That is until she really looks at the ambulance and sees a way to reinvent her business.

The Silence of the Flans—book # 2—comes out March 7. In an attempt to help de-stress her new boyfriend, Winnie (my protagonist) offers to let one of his business students do a short stint with her Emergency Dessert Squad. The hope is that the hands-on time with a real small business can make the difference between graduating and not graduating for this troubled girl.

Jay (Winnie’s boyfriend) tries to warn her about this particular student. Renee (Winnie’s best friend and employee) tries to convince her to let her go within the first few minutes…but Winnie doesn’t listen.

It’s a decision that may very well derail her new business when the next customer ends up dead—poisoned by one of Winnie’s own desserts.

Now for another new series…

Death in Advertising, the kick-off title in my new Tobi Tobias Mysteries, debuted last month. While the book can be purchased in a trade paperback size on line, the main focus is the e-book and it’s lower price. From a career standpoint, I pursued this contract as a way to get my work in front of the E-audience as the vast majority of my readers, to date, buy physical books. I, too, am a physical book reader, but I know that there is a segment of the population who isn’t. And by reaching them, I hope to grow all of my series.

Death in Advertising is the first book in what, for now, is a three-book series.  All three books will be out in this calendar year so there is no lengthy wait between visits with characters I hope you’ll come to love.

Tobi Tobias (my protagonist) is a fun character. She’s funny, quirky, and, at times, a bit self-deprecating. But she learns a lot about herself as she moves through the books. And her posse of friends—including an African Gray Parrot she pretends to hate—are an absolute hoot to spend time with.

3. Candy corn. Explain.

I wish I could. I just know that the final day or two of a deadline has me consuming large quantities alongside many glasses of milk. The Brachs Corporation really should consider me as a spokesperson.

4. You are a very prolific writer. How do you get so much done?

I’m not sure how prolific I am. I have eight years of college tuition to pay (I’m halfway through now!) and that’s quite a motivator to work, work, work if there ever was one.

5. You’re a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan. Which is your favorite book?

On the Banks of Plum Creek. It had everything—girl drama (Laura/Nellie), dramatic moments (leeches!) and everything else you could want in a good book.

Now that I’m thinking about that book, I’m realizing it’s time to do a little re-reading. J

6. What’s next for you?

A few things.

*The 12^th Southern Sewing Circle Mystery—Patterned After Death— (written under my pen name, Elizabeth Lynn Casey) comes out in June.

*The 2^nd Tobi Tobias Mystery—30 Second Death—comes out in July.

*I’ll be releasing the sixth book in my Amish Mysteries in late summer/early fall.

*The 3^rd Tobi Tobias Mystery—And Death Goes To—comes out in December.

*Dial M for Mousse, the third Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery, will be out in January, 2018.

*And a brand new project I’m beyond excited about will debut in the summer of 2018, releasing first in trade with a mass market reprint.  I’ll share more on my Facebook Author page when I can.

Thanks for stopping by, Laura! Readers, what’s your favorite Laura Bradford or Elizabeth Lynn Casey book or series?