Cozy Up to Crime - The NEXT Interview!

Yay! Another interview from the Cozy Up to Crime Storybundle! This one is for the featured book "Bloodshed in the Badlands" by Judith A. Barrett.

Why are you attracted to writing cozy? What's special to you about the genre?

I’ve always been drawn to stories where talented but flawed women charge into extraordinary situations to solve murders and stop the killer!

Cozy mysteries are perfect for my characters to confront long-forgotten scars and to grow while I weave stories of murder for readers to solve alongside the main character. Naturally, I throw in banter for a touch of humor and a plot twist or two to keep my readers guessing.

What was one of the most surprising things you’ve learned while writing cozy?

My biggest surprise was when I discovered I had a whole new population of readers!

For the seven years I’ve been an author, most of my newsletter subscribers and social media followers have been empty-nesters, so I was amazed two years ago to learn that a whole new generation has discovered my cozy mysteries.

I love to sell my books in person at arts and crafts festivals because I can talk to readers and learn more about what they like. In the past two years, a growing number of readers who come to my booth specifically to buy more books are 10- to 14-year-old girls. They are reading their way through my cozy mystery series! At their request, I have Book 7 planned for a series that will be ready in time for the fall arts and crafts festivals.

What do you love most about the story or novel that’s in this story bundle?

Bloodshed in the Badlands, Book 1 of the series, takes place at a haunted campground in Arizona, which was a new setting and location for me to research. The main character is a journalist who is writing articles about haunted campgrounds for a travel magazine, which means each book in the series takes place in a different state in the US.

All of my cozy mystery main characters have an unusual sidekick, and in this first book, an annoying ghost who was a young stagecoach guard in the Old West helps Wren as she solves the murders and stops the killer.

What are you working on right now, and what’s coming out next?

I’m working on a new series. The main character, a young widow, inherited a neglected bed-and-breakfast. While she revives the inn’s business, she stops killers.

Books One and Two are published, and Book Three is next and will be released this summer.

Where can people find you and more of your work?

All my paperback, ebook and audio books are on my online store, Barrett Book Shop (BarrettBookShop dot com).

My books are in libraries, and all the major retailers carry my ebooks: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Google Play, Kobo, and others. My audiobooks are also available on Amazon, Apple, Google Play, and Kobo.

And be sure to check out the Cozy Up to Crime storybundle at https://www.storybundle.com/crime