Author Spotlight: Leah Dobrinska

What inspired your first cozy mystery?

Growing up, my family visited a small, lakeside town and stayed in a resort of log cabins in Northern Wisconsin for one week every summer. Think pine trees, a warm breeze off the water, and the scent of campfire in the air. All of my core childhood memories are wrapped up in this place. The idea for my first cozy mystery, Death Checked Out, came to me while I was on a trip back to the Wisconsin Northwoods as an adult. We were visiting family who have a cottage on a lake near where we used to vacation. We were out on a pontoon boat, and we came around a bend, and there was this wooden dock and a quaint log cabin, nestled in the trees. I took one look at the scene before me and thought to myself, “That’s where I’m going to set my first mystery.” I had been writing romances for a couple years at that point, but I just knew that the Northwoods setting, and specifically a log cabin on a lake, would make the perfect backdrop for a cozy mystery series. That was the moment the Larkspur Library Mysteries were born.

How do you research and create the "cozy" elements in your books, like the settings and community?

The Songwriter Sleuth Mysteries are set in a fictional version of Nashville, TN. This was intentional, as I felt like my main character, Leigh, needed to be living in the heart of Music City as she worked to make a name for herself as a songwriter, but it also presented some challenges. Cozies aren’t typically set in cities, and as I’ve mentioned, I love a small-town cozy setting as much as the next person, so I worked to make my version of Nashville feel small. Leigh lives in a borough, just outside downtown. I coined her borough, the Village. Villagers, as they call themselves, look after each other, and they have a central meeting spot at Java Flo’s, a café that’s owned by Leigh’s landlord, Agnes. Having that community of characters who’ll pop up in each of the subsequent stories is one way I hope to help readers feel right at home, even if this series is set in a bigger city.

I also had the privilege of interviewing Garrett Thorn, a singer and songwriter based in Nashville, as I was drafting Trebled Waters. He was gracious enough to answer all of my questions about what it’s like to live in Music City and work in the music industry. He had some pretty crazy stories to tell!

What is one key step in your writing process that helps you transform an idea into a finished book?

This might sound silly, but the key step for me is writing the story. I will plot as much as I can and try to have a loose roadmap of where I want a book to go, but often I just have to begin typing and let the story take me away. At this point in my writing career, I understand that I’ll get to a moment in every manuscript when I’ll think it’s all garbage and want to give up on it. That’s when I have to tell myself to keep writing and see the story through to the end. Getting the first draft out is always a huge hurdle, but it’s the key to the process for me. I’ve got to write the book, and then I can go back and edit… over and over again!

What advice would you give aspiring cozy mystery authors who want to start writing their first novel?

First, keep writing! The difference between a published author and an aspiring author is that one finished the manuscript. There’s no better feeling than typing “The End!” Power through those moments when you feel like your story is a mess or you don’t know how you’re ever going to finish a draft. You can and you will, but you’ve got to keep writing. Writing is like a muscle. It’ll get stronger the more and more you work it out. The more you write, the more confident you’ll be, and the better you’ll get.

Second, keep reading! Read books in and out of the genre you’re writing. I find myself constantly inspired by and in awe of the creativity of those around me. I look up to so many authors, and sometimes I take notes when I’m reading because I know I can learn so much about the craft of writing from those doing it well.

Finally, it’s easy to get sucked in to comparing what you’re doing with what those around you are doing. While it’s great to learn from and be inspired by others, don’t lose sight of your unique voice and the story you have to share. What works for someone else might not work for you. It’s okay to put the blinders on and focus on your book. Don’t ever forget that the world needs your story, and only you can tell it.

How can readers connect with you online?

My favorite place to connect with readers is through my author newsletter. I share a brief life update along with snippets of my writing process. I like to peel back the curtain of author life, and I also include book recommendations. I consider my newsletter subscribers my top fans, since they’ve willingly opted-in and want to hear from me, so they get access to all the bookish goodness (things like new title or series announcements and cover reveals!) first. If readers are interested, they can subscribe here: leahdobrinska.com/newsletter.

I also share book news on Instagram (@whatleahwrote) and on my Facebook page (facebook.com/whatleahwrote).

Leah Dobrinska Cozy Mystery Bookshelf

Use the arrows on either side of the images below to see Leah Dobrinska’s mysteries. Click on the images to see the books on Amazon.