ABOUT THE BOOK
Cat Latimer’s Colorado bed-and-breakfast plays host to writers from all over. But murder is distinctly unwelcome . . .To kick off a winter writing retreat, Cat and her handyman boyfriend, Seth, escort the aspiring authors to a nearby ski resort, hoping some fresh cold air will wake up their creative muses. But instead of hitting the slopes, they hit the bar—and before long, a tipsy romance novelist named Christina is keeping herself warm with a local ski bum who might have neglected to tell her about his upcoming wedding.
Next thing Cat knows, her uncle, the town sheriff, informs her that the young man’s been found dead in a hot tub—and Christina shows up crying and covered in blood. Now, between a murder mystery, the theft of a rare Hemingway edition, and the arrival of a black-clad stranger in snowy Aspen Hills, Cat’s afraid everything’s going downhill . . .
ABOUT CAT LATIMER
Cat Latimer grew up in Aspen Hills, Colorado. When she went off to Covington College, she wanted to write the next Buffy the Vampire series. Since the English Department didn’t offer a popular fiction course, she decided to get her master’s degree and teach one instead. After moving to sunny California for personal reasons, Cat returned to open the Warm Springs Writing Retreat in the historical Victorian she owned with her now deceased husband. Cat also pens a popular young adult paranormal series.INTERVIEW WITH CAT LATIMER
Cat, how did you first meet your writer, Lynn Cahoon?
Lynn created me on a long drive to Idaho during the summer of 2014. She’d had a lot of success with The Tourist Trap series and Jill Gardner, so she wanted to pitch a series set in a different area, with different problems. I believe I win in the setting department. Aspen Hills is big enough to have everything I need, yet small enough I don’t get lost in the city. And you can’t beat the year-round outdoor activities.
Anyway, I’m getting off track. She pulled together my life and backstory, and the first book where I appear, A Story to Kill, was born September 2016. It takes a long time to bring a book to life.
Want to dish about Lynn?
Lynn’s cool. She’s fun when we can get her away from the writing. I worry about her sometimes because it seems like she’s always working. But as I’ve told many of my retreat guests, every writer’s process is different. I’d love to have her come visit me and Shauna during one of our retreats.
Why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?
Seriously, I blame my ex-husband. If he hadn’t become my ex, there would have been no need to open Warm Spring’s Writers Retreat. I wonder sometimes if my life would have changed at all if he hadn’t taken on that second job that made the dominos fall. Would I still be teaching? Would I be an author? Or would it have been too hard of a road to walk with a full-time job?
I could do without the murders that seem to happen around me though.
Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.
Well, there’s this part with martial arts, kidnapping, and a stone gnome or two. I think that scene was really funny. At least at the end.
If you could rewrite anything in your book, what would it be?
I’d love to move Mrs. Rice from the house next door. She’s such a busy body. Everyone knew that Seth had kissed me for the first time since we were teenagers the day after because she was watching us from her living room window. And she has a gossip phone tree. Don’t people have anything better to do with their free time? What about watching NCIS? Why can’t I have a nice neighbor?
Do have any secret aspirations that your author doesn’t know about?
Absolutely not. I’m very happy with my life. I have my books which seems to be doing well in sales. Of course, you never really know what’s going to happen tomorrow. That’s one of the reasons I talked Shauna into opening Warm Springs Writers Retreat with me. Financial cushion. I have the house of my dreams, again. And a pretty cute boyfriend who seems to enjoy spending time with me.
If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?
What’s the weather like outside? I love to snow ski. And water ski. And hike. And Seth just bought a cool side-by-side which is like a mini jeep. We have fun trail riding. Or just get lost in a book
Tell us about your best friend.
Shauna is my best friend. I met her in California and it was good to have a girlfriend you could talk to about anything. She’s been in some sticky relationships so she helped me through the dark times. And she’s fun. Now that she’s part of the retreat, I feel blessed that she’s such a great cook. The cookies, muffins, and more she makes for our guests are so much better than store bought. The girl could open a restaurant, but she assures me she likes running the hospitality side of our monthly retreat.
What are you most afraid of?
Depending on someone and having them betray you. I guess I’m really not over the way my marriage ended. Moving to sunny California gave me lots of time to walk and think. I’m not sure I could trust someone so completely again.
What’s your author’s worst habit?
Taking on more than she can get done. The girl’s always got a bright and shiny floating around her head, waiting to be written. I keep telling her, it’s all about me. Well, me and that California chick, Jill.
Describe the town where you live.
Like I said, Aspen Hills is amazing. I grew up here. We walked in the woods as kids, partied there as teenagers, and when I went away to college, I went to Covington. Which I could walk to from my house. The Colorado lifestyle is easy going and active. I love introducing my retreat guests to my little bit of heaven here, nestled against the mountains and filled with forested areas. And if you need big city for anything, Denver is just a couple of hours north.
Describe an average day in your life.
When the retreat is in session, I have no average day. Whatever the guests need or want is my priority.
The other three weeks, if I’m writing, I hole up in my office and write until Shauna makes me come down for meals. And if it seems right, Seth and I might go for a walk to grab an ice cream or play a few rounds of pool down at Bernie’s. If I’m not writing, I do everything else that I ignored while I was writing.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lynn Cahoon is the author of the New York Times and USA Today best-selling Tourist Trap cozy mystery series. Guidebook to Murder, book 1 of the series won the Reader's Crown for Mystery Fiction in 2015. She also pens the recently released, Cat Latimer series. A Story to Kill, book 1, came out in mass market paperback September 2016.
She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com
Connect with Lynn:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Buy the book:
Amazon | Kobo
