The next interview for the Cozy Up to Crime storybundle is about someone who is going to an interview! Shanna Swendson, take it away!
Why are you attracted to writing cozy? What’s special to you about the genre?
I’ve joked that cozy mystery is anti-copaganda. It’s often about people within the community being better at solving crimes than the cops are, since the sleuth is usually an amateur. Being open-minded enough to consider all the possibilities, being plugged in enough to be aware of all the people and personalities in the town, and being willing to listen all play a big role in bringing about justice.
I also like the community setting of most cozies. I spent my teen years in a very small town and hated it, but at the same time I’m drawn to some of the aspects of small towns. In fact, after I wrote my cozy mystery series I moved from a major metro area to a smallish town that has all the elements I put into the fictional town I created for my books, though it’s a lot bigger than the town where I went to high school and the town in my books. I love the idea of knowing just about everyone and being known, of having friends wherever you go and neighbors looking out for you.
What was one of the most surprising things you’ve learned while writing cozy?
This didn’t really come from writing cozy, but while I was working on the sixth book in my series – in fact, the scene in which they found the body – a murder took place right outside my house. I was writing and heard the gunshots. It was a targeted drive-by shooting. The shooter had been tailing the victim for some time and just happened to shoot as they were passing my house. If I’d been looking out the window instead of down at my computer screen, I’d have seen it happen. As it was, while I was writing the scene with the crime scene investigators, I was watching the crime scene team work from my upstairs office window. I took notes, but at the same time, the whole incident made me a little uncomfortable with writing about murder for entertainment because it all became very real.
What do you love most about the story or novel that’s in this story bundle?
I love the little town I created for this book. It has all the elements of small Texas towns that I’ve loved. I like taking back roads when I travel and going through all the little towns. I put all the things that have caught my attention in my travels into this one town, then added a bit of the supernatural (since this is a paranormal cozy). I’m a sucker for “weird little town with secrets” stories, so this was my chance to write one. Coming up with the history of the town was so much fun. I also threw a lot of my personal experiences into the heroine’s story. She’s just been laid off from a job and reeling from that, and I had that experience a couple of decades ago. I went to journalism school and have had a couple of newspaper jobs, and that got thrown in. Then there’s my experience in living in a small town and knowing how all the social dynamics work. In some respects, this may be the most personal book I’ve written.
What are you working on right now, and what’s coming out next?
I’ve been writing cozy fantasy lately, in part because of that murder that happened outside my house and the murder of someone I knew that happened a couple of weeks after that. I needed to retreat to a fantasy world. My cozy fantasy has a lot of the elements of my cozy mysteries, but in a fantasy world and without murder. The “mysteries” they have to solve are more about magic and a curse that’s been placed on the village. The series is the Tales of Rydding Village, and the third book was just released. I’m not entirely sure what will be next because I’m in the middle of moving for the second time within a year (though I hope this one will be a lot more permanent, as I’ve bought a house!), so I’m not thinking about writing at the moment. There will definitely be another Rydding Village book, but I don’t know if it will be the next thing released.
Where can people find you and more of your work?
My website has info on all my books: http://shannaswendson.com/
For social media, I’m most active on BlueSky, @shannaswendson.bsky.social
And be sure to check out the Cozy Up to Crime storybundle: https://www.storybundle.com/crime
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