Interview with mystery author Kirsten Weiss

Novelist Kirsten Weiss chats with me today about her new metaphysical mystery, Legacy of the Witch.

During her virtual book tour, Kirsten will be giving away a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Welcome, Kirsten. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I believe in free will, and that we all can make a difference. I believe that beauty blossoms in the conscious life, particularly with friends, family, and strangers. I believe that genre fiction has become generic, and it doesn’t have to be.

My current focus is my new Mystery School series, starting with Legacy of the Witch. Traditionally, women’s fiction refers to fiction where a woman—usually in her midlife—is going through some sort of dramatic change. A lot of us do go through big transitions in midlife. We get divorced or remarried. The kids leave the nest. Our bodies change. The midlife crisis is real—though it manifests in different ways—as we look back on where we’ve been, where we’re going, and the time we have left.

Now in my mid-fifties, I’ve spent more time thinking about the big “meaning of life” issues. It seemed like approaching those issues through witch fiction, and through a fictional mystery school, would be a fun and a useful way for me to work out some of these ideas in my own head—about change and letting go, faith and fear, and love and longing.

After growing up on a diet of Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, and Agatha Christie, I’ve published over 60 mysteries—from cozies to supernatural suspense, as well as an experimental fiction book on Tarot. Spending over 20 years working overseas in international development, I learned that perception is not reality, and things are often not what they seem—for better or worse.

There isn’t a winter holiday or a type of chocolate I don’t love, and some of my best friends are fictional.

Please tell us about your current release.
Legacy of the Witch started off as paranormal women’s fiction mystery about a woman who joins an online mystery school, and the messages she gets from the school parallel what’s happening in her life. That genre usually features a woman in mid-life who is going through a dramatic change (plus a murder mystery). But I quickly realized that it provided an opportunity for readers who wanted to go deeper into the big metaphysical questions that can strike us at any transition—am I on the right path? What’s the meaning of my life? Am I following my soul’s calling or what other people want me to be? So I included the actual emails and worksheets from the school for readers to contemplate and play with should they wish. Readers don’t have to participate in the fictional mystery school lessons—they can just read and enjoy the supernatural mystery. But so far, the feedback about the downloadable worksheets and included UnTarot app has been really positive. I think it’s an ideal book for a book club!

What inspired you to write this book?
I’ve always loved mysteries and especially supernatural mysteries. This one is set in Pennsylvania Dutch country, which has its own form of folk magic called braucherei. The rolling hills and old barns with hex signs and the spooky old forests are so charming—and a part of my family history—that I really wanted to set a mystery there.

Excerpt from Legacy of the Witch:
Of all the life-ruining mistakes I’d ever made, being late was not going to be one of them.

I double checked the campus map. My advisor’s office should have been directly ahead of me. Instead, there was a wide swathe of grass dotted with crimson leaves and way-too-young students.

At least they seemed too young to me. They had to be too young, because the alternative was that at forty-seven, I was too old. Too old to start over. Too old to rid myself of my growing collection of ghosts. Too old to get a degree. Too old to use that degree as a springboard for my dream business and dream life and dream whatever the hell I was doing.

But I couldn’t think that way. I had to have hope or I’d be stuck in the purgatory of widowhood.

I crumpled the campus map in my gloved hand. What was I doing? Everything was shifting—inside and out, above and below, and—

What exciting project are you working on next?
I’m working on the sequel, Shadow of the Witch, and turning the UnTarot deck app into a real-life paper-and-ink deck.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I still wonder, LOL. Imposter syndrome is strong in this one! But having traditional publishers has helped my confidence. That said, most of what I publish these days is through an authors’ cooperative, misterio press.

Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
Yes, I write full time. I write a chapter in the morning and get some editing done on a different project before lunch. The afternoons are for the business side of writing—mainly the book marketing.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I have what I call writing “pipelines.” At any given time, I’m writing the first draft of a story, have a story I’ve just written fermenting on my computer, and am editing another story.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A mystery writer!

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
This book is different, in that some of the elements are more experimental—such as the emails, the app, and the downloadable worksheets—in what is essentially pulp fiction. I’ve been telling people it’s a mystery for readers who love a good page-turner plus spiritual growth and development, but I think it’s just fun!

Links:
Website | Bookbub | Goodreads | Buy Legacy of the Witch Direct from the Author for Exclusive Extras | Kindle | Apple Books | Nook | GooglePlay | Kobo

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