This week Kathi Daley releases another cozy mystery – Murder at Sunrise – the second book in her mystery series set in Hawaii. Kathi is visiting my blog today to tell us about her release and answer my questions about her experiences as a mystery writer.
About Murder at Sunrise
Hilarity ensues when a group of seniors decide to investigate after one of their own ends up dead. Luke and Lani join the effort only to discover that they may have bitten off more than they can chew when the murder mystery becomes a lot more complicated, and a lot more dangerous, than anyone could have anticipated.
Interview
My husband and I vacation on Maui on a fairly regular basis and I really love the feel of the islands. I do like to place my series in settings I enjoy visiting physically and mentally, and I do try to mix things up a bit between the mountains and the ocean. Initially I thought about setting the series on Maui, but with its larger population, I felt that Oahu offered a more realistic backdrop for which inevitably will become a community with a lot of murders.
Murder at Sunrise is a fun book because it involves the participation of a group of hysterically funny seniors who were briefly introduced in Murder at Dolphin Bay. The main character, Kailani Pope, lives in a small condominium complex. Her next door neighbor, Elva Chambers, is a senior citizen who has recently suffered a broken hip. Elva is unable to drive, so on her days off Lani drives her to events at the senior center. It is at one of these events, a sunrise ceremony for the summer solstice, that a murder occurs. Initially Lani isn’t going to get involved in the investigation since she got into a lot of trouble with her detective brother the last time she tried to get in the middle of things, but the investigation is moving slowly so a group of seniors decide to investigate on their own. Lani, along with her boyfriend Luke, don’t want the seniors to put themselves in any danger, so they decide to pitch in and help them out.
I am currently working on Treasure in Paradise, one of the books from the Paradise Lake series which is published by Henery Press. Once I complete that project I plan to begin working on the Halloween stories which will be published for each of my self-publish series. On tap for Halloween is Murder at The Witching Hour: Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mystery; Costume Catastrophe: Zoe Donovan Mystery; and Count Catula: Whales and Tails Mystery. They will publish in August and September.
I work a lot. I know this isn’t the fun and sexy answer but it is true. I log onto my computer while I’m enjoying my first cup of coffee and I usually can be found at my computer until late afternoon. I self-publish a minimum of a book a month as a base. From this base I add books to the mix depending on my time limitations. The past two years I have published 18 books per year but this year I have had to back off a bit in order to expand into trade publishing. I plan to publish 12 – 13 self-publish books, plus I am writing two for Henery Press, and I am working on a new project for another publisher that it is too early to talk about. I also travel quite a bit so I need to carve out free time for this. I just got back from a two week writing trip to Maui where I wrote Murder at Sunrise on location, and I plan to be at Bouchercon (New Orleans) in September; Jackson MO (Mystery Train) in October; Honolulu Hi (Left Coast Crime) in March; and Bethesda MD (Malice) in April.
I actually read very little now that I am a writer (lack of time). Prior to writing a cozy mystery I had never even read one. A friend of mine knew I was thinking about getting into writing and suggested cozy mysteries as an option. He gave me a list of authors to read. I read them and thought to myself that I could do that and I did. Prior to writing cozy mysteries I tended to read romance. I guess that now I pick my reading material based on which of my author friends has a new book out that I want to support. I have written one stand alone romance: Road to Christmas Past, and I am currently working on another romance series. I also have 5 books in a YA mystery series – Seacliff High. Seacliff High is basically a cozy mystery with teenage characters. It is popular amongst teens and adults alike since it contains many of the same characteristics of my adult series.
Sand Dollar Cove by Nancy Naigle.
That’s all for now. Hope you get to see your grandkids and the Emerald Isle sometime soon. It’s been a pleasure having you as my guest. And, of course, congrats on your new release!
About Kathi Daley
Kathi Daley lives with her husband, kids, grandkids, and Bernese mountain dogs in beautiful Lake Tahoe. When she isn’t writing, she likes to read (preferably at the beach or by the fire), cook (preferably something with chocolate or cheese), and garden (planting and planning, not weeding). She also enjoys spending time on the water when she’s not hiking, biking, or snowshoeing the miles of desolate trails surrounding her home.
Kathi uses the mountain setting in which she lives, along with the animals (wild and domestic) that share her home, as inspiration for her cozy mysteries.
Kathi is a top 100 mystery writer for Amazon and she won the 2014 award for both Best Cozy Mystery Author and Best Cozy Mystery Series.
She currently writes five series: Zoe Donovan Cozy Mysteries, Whales and Tails Island Mysteries, Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries, Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mysteries, and Seacliff High Teen Mysteries.
Connect with Kathi:
- Stay up to date with her newsletter, The Daley Weekly. http://eepurl.com/NRPDf
- Kathi Daley Blog: publishes each Friday http://kathidaleyblog.com
- Webpage www.kathidaley.com
- Facebook at Kathi Daley Books – www.facebook.com/kathidaleybooks
- Kathi Daley Teen – www.facebook.com/kathidaleyteen
- Kathi Daley Books Group Page – https://www.facebook.com/groups/569578823146850/
- E-mail – kathidaley@kathidaley.com
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7278377.Kathi_Daley
- Twitter at Kathi Daley@kathidaley – https://twitter.com/kathidaley
- Amazon Author Page – https://www.amazon.com/author/kathidaley
- BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kathi-daley
- Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/kathidaley/
Cassidy's Bookshelves 
Reblogged this on Don Massenzio's Blog.
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Love all of Kathi’s characters! Grab her books as soon as they are released!
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Just finished the first book in the series and can’t wait to see what trouble those seniors get into!
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