Author Spotlight: Stacie Ramey

Award-winning, bestselling author Stacie Ramey has written several novels, including The Sister Pact, which was named a YALSA 2016 Popular Paperback and a 2015 PSLA Top 40. Her Mystic Hollow Bookshop Mystery series features a magical bookshop run by three generations of women. The first book in the series, Spellbound by Murder, explores the price of magic and how it might be more hefty than one can hope.

Cozy Crime Reads Interview with Stacie Ramey

What attracted you to the cozy mystery genre?

I’ve always loved a good cozy whether a book or a movie. There is something so nostalgic, calming, and fun about settling in where you feel most comfortable, with the people you love best in the world, and a mug of something hot that appeals. Ok, there is also murder. But usually, it’s someone unlikeable. Plus, that leads to a mystery. So fun!

What are a few of the essential elements that make a cozy stand out to you as a reader?

For me, I like to inhabit a world that is nothing like mine. Like 1895 London in The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin. Or I like to learn about a new skill like beekeeping or cheesemaking. There is something hypnotic about putting yourself into another life and finding the rhythm there. I also love a fun environment, whether contemporary or Victorian. Add in a bookstore or a book theme and I’m in.

What inspired your first cozy mystery?

I had been trying to write a cozy for years. Many, many years. The entire process eluded me. I’d been published as a young adult author and I thought I’d be able to figure out this new genre, but it took time. Which is probably the way it should be. This cozy was inspired by my love for the Gilmore Girls franchise. I have rewatched that series so many times I can quote so many different scenes. It feels like a celebration of daughters and mothers and I loved that, so I wondered what it would be like if the Gilmore Girls had to solve a mystery. And viola!

How do you research and create the cozy elements in your books, such as the setting and community?

As a kid I used to envision living other places all the time, usually through books. Now, It’s easy to do thanks to the internet. Living in south Florida, every summer I become obsessed with cold climates. I look up houses in Alaska, the mountains in Maine, or Vermont. I try to figure out where my husband and I would get our coffee in the morning. Where we’d buy our groceries. Where I’d do my daily walks. This is the same kind of research I do for my books. I watch hours of YouTube videos of people who live like showing off their town. I check out all the Chamber of Commerce websites. I read about town hall meetings. Celebrations. Living another person’s life is so fun(from afar) and that makes researching for my books sheer heaven.

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

This is different for each book, but what’s true for each one is I have to be able to visualize living in the book itself. I need to become the main character and think like they do. For Spellbound by Murder I transformed an unused old desk planner (I love those and buy them every year!) into a plotting tool. Each page followed a character or a clue so I had a visual timeline of when things happen and when people knew about them. Although a good friend of mine suggest for the next book to create my own murder board like in detective shows. Hmmmm. Might have to do that.

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

Do it! It’s so fun and it will exercise mental agility muscles you didn’t even know you had!

How can readers connect with you online? Follow me on Instagram: stacieramey_ or sign up for my Substack newsletter, Write Cozy. It’s free and is a great place to keep up to date on all my writing!

Thanks for hosting me, Anna!