Today I'm excited to welcome another cozy mystery author, Annie Adams. Like another book we all know and love :), Annie's novel,
The Final Arrangement, is a humorous mystery that features a woman sleuth. This highly-rated first book in the
Flower Shop Mystery Series is set in Northern Utah and has bad guys, lots of laughs, and funny characters.
About the book:
The Vulture is dead.
The body of Quincy McKay’s nemesis and biggest competitor in the floral business has just been discovered in a casket at the mortuary, complete with flowers on the lid.
Derrick Gibbons, aka The Vulture, stole all of Quincy’s funeral business, and now she’s on a mission to get it back. But there’s a problem—Quincy is now the main suspect in The Vulture’s murder.
Armed with only her Zombie delivery van, good intentions, and the business card of a handsome cop named Alex, she must find the killer, save the flower shop, and keep from ending up in the next casket. If she can dodge burning bushes, the plague of a polygamist ex, and her mother’s Mormon Mafia Spy Network, her life with Alex and her shop could become the perfect arrangement.
Interview with Annie Adams:
How did you come up with the title of your book?
After blood, sweat, tears, and many Cokes with my critique partner, the working title was nixed. About two months later, she and I went shopping and on the drive back to work, we talked about someone we knew who had to make the final arrangements on the estate of a family member who had passed. We looked at each other and said, “That’s it!”
What do you do "in the real world?"
I own and operate a full service flower shop.
Do you outline, write by the seat of your pants, or let your characters tell you what to write?
For me it’s an amalgamation of all of the above. I’ve tried to be a strict outliner--that experience lasted about 5 minutes. I think combining all the methods of writing is actually an ability which serves me well at the flower shop. Multi-tasking is the name of the game, you have to be able to juggle projects and timing everyday, so I consider it a talent—one at which both Quincy and I are always trying to do better.
How did your your cover art come about?
I helped create the overall concept, design, and color scheme of the cover, and my brilliant cover designer (Kelli Ann of Inspire Creative Services) used her skills to produce what she and I imagined. It was quite and undertaking for both of us and let’s just say she has a tremendous amount of patience!
What books have you read more than once or want to read again?
I read Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series over and over again, and I love Lizzy and Diesel in “Wicked Appetite.” I’ve read many Agatha Christie books many times over and I’ve rented the television series she used to produce and write.
Tell us a book you’re an evangelist for.
This is outside my current genre, but I just love “Gone Girl,” by Gillian Flynn. I quipped once on Facebook that my book was in the rankings on the Amazon Free list right next to “Gone Girl” in the paid column and Gillian “liked” my comment, which sent me over the moon!
Have you ever bought any books just for the cover?
I go to the book store and the library just to look at cover art every month or so. The intrigue of the cover doesn’t always match the insides, but this is rare.
When you start a new book, do you know what the entire cast will be?
No. The next book in
The Flower Shop Mystery Series is called
Deadly Arrangements. I “mapped” out the rough outline and cast of characters and within the first chapter had found another who wasn’t in the original line up.
I love it when the characters take over! Which character did you most enjoy writing?
It depends upon my mood. K.C. makes me laugh, Alex makes me swoon, and Quincy makes me frustrated. Quincy’s mom makes me shake my head and smile knowing she’s not likely to change.
I’m constantly on the lookout for new names. How do you name your characters?
The Flower Shop Mystery Series is set in Northern Utah. In Utah, we have a rich cultural heritage from many different groups. One of the little quirks of our heritage is the interesting names of people. I try to reflect that. I thought LaDonna was a fairly made up name—which I came up with over two years ago. Just last month I had floral deliveries for two different LaDonna’s in a week’s time.
I also enjoy names that reflect a little bit about the character, and some that just “sound good” as they roll off the tongue.
I like writing characters who do and say things I never would, as well as characters who do and say things I wish I could. Do you have characters who fit into one of those categories? Who, and in what category do they fall?
I think people would agree that both Quincy and K.C. do some of both. It isn’t always a good quality, but nobody’s perfect...right?
Who are your favorite authors?
Janet Evanovich, Diane Mott Davidson, Agatha Christie, Madelyn Alt (please write another one!), Jonathan Kellerman, Rhys Bowen.
Do you have a routine for writing?
Ugh! I’m always in the pursuit of being organized. I go to the office supply store and lovingly pass my hands over the beautiful calendars, day-planners and packages of similar software. Then I shrug and realize it’s never going to happen.
Where’s home for you?
Home is my house at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, home is my parent’s house on my Grandpa’s farm. Home is with my husband. Home is with my aunts and uncles, siblings, and nieces and nephews on Grandma day every week in her family room.
If you could take a trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Everywhere! I really do mean it.
What are you working on now?
Deadly Arrangements, book two in
The Flower Shop Mystery Series: Planning a wedding can be murder!
About the author:
Annie Adams is the author of
The Final Arrangement,
book one in
The Flower Shop Mystery Series. She lives with her husband,
two giant dogs, and two too giant cats in Northern Utah at the foot of
the Wasatch Mountains. When not writing, she can be found arranging
flowers or delivering them in her own Zombie Delivery Van.
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