Cozy Florida

Cozy Florida is thrilled to have Sherry Harris as this month’s guest! She is a part-time Floridian as she has family in the Sunshine State. Her Jackson Sea Glass Saloon series is set in the Florida panhandle.

Here is a little bit more about her:

Sherry Harris is the Agatha Award nominated author of the Sarah Winston Garage Sale mystery series and the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon mysteries. Sherry is a past president of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. She loves books, beaches, bars, and Westies — not necessarily in that order. She is also a patent holding inventor. Sherry, her husband, and guard dog Lily are living in northern Virginia until they figure out where they want to move to next. 

Welcome, Sherry Harris!

Thanks, Raquel, Tara, and Cheryl for asking me to stop by. I’m thrilled the second book in my Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon mystery series, A Time to Swill, comes out at the end of July. It’s a hot time of year in the Florida panhandle, where the series is set, which got me to thinking about adding heat to cozy mysteries. 

Plot – putting your character in hot water is a must. I remember one writing instructor saying that you have to put your character on the boat in the river, then the lose the oars, then a storm comes up, then you spring a leak – you get the idea. In A Time to Swill the story opens when Chloe is out for her usual early morning run. It’s foggy and Chloe spots a sailboat tilted at an odd angle near the shore. Then she hears a baby cry on the boat, she calls 911, but can’t wait for help to arrive, gets on the boat, and it gets swept back out into the Gulf of Mexico. Let’s just say that’s when things get interesting. 

Protagonist – Your protagonist has to be able to take the heat and bring the heat. They have to be the most interesting character in the book. When you put your character in hot water, they have to be smart enough to eventually figure a way out of the situation. They can’t sit by passively hoping something will happen, they have to make things happen. 

Romance – some people love romance in a mystery, others tolerate it as long as it doesn’t take the forefront to the mystery, and some people are no thanks to any of it. I’m decidedly in the “I’ll take a side of romance with that mystery, please” group. Chloe is just starting a relationship with a volunteer firefighter. She’s been engaged once and found out in the first book in the series, From Beer to Eternity, that someone she thought of as a good friend loved her. She’s not eager to jump into another relationship. But a firefighter definitely knows how to bring the heat.

Weather – yes, the heat can be literal. In Florida it can mean lightning – lightning in Florida is frequent and dramatic and LOUD! When I lived in the panhandle, I saw transformers get hit more than once as I was driving down a street. Trees in my yard were hit and the lightning arced out creating all kinds of problems for the neighbors around us. Heat can bring hurricanes. It can disguise the cause of death – was that a heat stroke or something else? 

Heat can take many forms in a mystery, but especially one set in Florida.

BOOK GIVEAWAY

Do you like hot weather? I’m giving away a paper or e-copy of From Beer to Eternity to someone who leaves a comment. (US only) The winner will be selected at random on July 1st, 2021.

Follow Sherry on social media:

Blog

Twitter

Facebook