Jessie: In New Hampshire, wishing the black fly population had heard about social distancing!
I am just delighted to welcome Amanda Flower to the Wickeds today! I have had the pleasure of running into her in the past at conferences and am looking forward to chatting with her in real life again someday soon. Until then, I am so pleased she can vist virtually today!
My two favorite flavors are lemon and cilantro, so writing foodie mysteries like the ones I do for the Amish Candy Shop Mysteries, I have been waiting to use those ingredients in a book. As far as I know there are no cilantro candies out in the world. After a quick internet search for “cilantro candy” some very odd recipes and products come up. To be honest, they all sound terrible.
Because cilantro was out of the running for one my Amish Candy Shop books, I knew lemon would one day have her day. She finally has with the release of Lemon Drop Dead, and boy, did I hit the lemon hard in this story. The mystery is built around Emily Esh, who is Amish and pregnant with her second child. Her first child is part of the mystery that I won’t give away here. Emily loves lemon, just like I do, so the village of Harvest throws her a lemon-themed baby shower. However the lemon doesn’t stop there. It continues through the story and is tided in the murder and other crimes in the novel. Even more fun, there is an easy (because I like my recipes easy) lemon recipe in the back of the book.
I think all this talk of lemons and my love for them reminds me how much writers put of ourselves in our writing, even when we write mystery. No, I have never seen a murder nor investigated one nor do I want to either of those things to happen. However, there are bits of me throughout all my books. I think it would be impossible as a writer to keep yourself from spilling over into a story, and honestly, I learn a lot about myself when I’m writing fiction. It clarifies what I believe about justice, love, faith, and all those big ideas and important topics. And at the same time, it lets me share my love of mystery fiction, Amish culture, and yes, lemons.
I hope you will give the novel a try, and remember even though lemons may be sour they make the sweetest desserts.
Amanda Flower, a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over twenty-five cozy mystery novels, started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words. In addition to being an author, Amanda is a former librarian with fifteen years of experience in Northeast Ohio.