Author Spotlight: Nancy Coco

What inspired your first cozy mystery?

I have Celiac and I was working on creating recipes for "normal" food that I could still eat like cookies, etc. When it occurred to me it would be fun to have a gluten free bakery in the middle of Kansas wheat country. I had so much writing that book that I was hooked.

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

I have lived in every place where I set my books. For example, the Candy-coated series is set on Mackinac Island, Michigan. I grew up in Michigan, and my mom grew up very close to the island, and we visited there. I lived and worked in Portland, Oregon and traveled to the coast a few times. That's how the Oregon Honeycomb Mystery series started.

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

I have to spend a lot of time with the main character to get to know them and their quirks and the way they see the world. I ask them their dreams, their disappointments, their fears and then either who really annoys them currently and why or what type of person annoys them. This kind of time helps them come to life as real people to me and makes the book possible.

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

I hope this is not too cliche, but you have to write it, all of it. Start from the beginning and go to the end. Don't be tempted to go back and go back, or you’ll be stuck in edit, not write mode. Get it down on paper no matter how bad or how short. After it's down, you can edit until it becomes the book you wanted it to be. By editing, I don't mean grammar. I mean flow. Have you forgotten a character from the beginning of the story? Are things getting worse and worse toward the end until you feel as if all is lost? Are they wearing clothes, or are they all talking heads? Have you added the five senses? Things like that.

Most importantly - don't give up. You've got this!

Nancy Coco’s Cozy Mystery Books

Use the arrows on either side of the images below to see cozy mysteries written by Nancy Coco (including mysteries written as Nell Hampton and Nancy J Parra). Click on the images to see the books on Amazon.