Author Interview (and a Giveaway!): Katherine H. Brown & Toes in the Tulips

Please join me in welcoming author Katherine H. Brown to the blog today to chat about her new cozy mystery, Toes in the Tulips!

Katherine Brown is a wife, mom, Texas author, and unreformed bookaholic. From childhood, Katherine has devoured books for fun, for escape, for inspiration. As an author, it is Katherine’s goal to provide that same fun escape for others and encourage a love of reading in any age group. Clean cozy mysteries with sass and good Southern manners are her specialty, though recently Katherine has taken the jump into the steampunk world with a fun twist on Mary Poppins inspired characters. When not writing, Katherine enjoys weekly trips to the library with her toddler, teaching yoga workouts, and spending time with family.

You can connect with Katherine through her newsletter and on Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub, Amazon and Instagram.

TOES IN THE TULIPS (Adventures of Gladys) by Katherine H. Brown
SERIES: The Mystery Book Nook Shared World #3
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
RELEASE DATE: September 5, 2023
PAGES: 277

Another who-dunnit featuring one of your favorite Senior sleuths as well as an exciting new installment of The Mystery Book Nook Shared World.

Gladys is head over heels excited for the new community garden project. In fact, she’s created a whole new event: the Community Garden Plant Potluck. The plant potluck is more popular than even she imagined until one of the community garden members is found toes up in the tulips, dead as can be.

Gladys won’t rest until the killer is planted in a jail cell and the Community Garden project is free to grow again. But when clues don’t make sense, she might have to do a little out-of-the-box research using an interesting new resource, The Mystery Book Nook Forum, online.

Don’t miss this fun new adventure with some favorite characters!

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Hi Katherine! Welcome to the blog!

Katherine: Apples – I love the sweet flavor and firm texture; I can’t stand squishy or pulpy fruits/berries

Carrie: Apples are my fave too & I’m delighted that we’re in apple season now!

Katherine:Tea. I love tea though I drink mine iced and unsweet, I do drink a variety of flavors from breakfast tea to green tea to Earl Gray. I do not enjoy coffee, coffee smells, or coffee aftertaste though my husband loves coffee lol

Carrie: I can only drink tea if I load it with so much sugar that you can’t tell it’s tea haha. And I’m with you on the coffee 🙂

Katherine: I would choose both but we watch Netflix most often because my husband isn’t going to watch Hallmark with me and I love spending time at night watching our shows together to relax

Carrie: that sounds like me & my husband, too!

Katherine: soup. I have several favorite soups: potato soup, McAlister’s tortilla soup, and occasionally broccoli cheddar soup

Carrie: yum! now i want some potato soup!

Q: Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?

Katherine: If I had a super power it would be the power of prediction. To see a situation and predict the best possible outcome and how to achieve it (plus, then maybe I could predict the villain in my own mysteries and write them faster lol – as it is, I’m a pantser and prefer to figure it out as I go)

Carrie: i think i would be a pantser too but that prediction superpower does sound kinda neat

Q: When you walk into a bookstore, where do you head first?

Katherine: The first place I head in a bookstore (and MOST stores) is the clearance or bargain section. I love a good deal and because money isn’t exactly flowing for our family, I love to save whenever possible.

Carrie: i feel that!

Q: If I sneaked a peek in your purse right now (which I would never do, I promise!), what would it tell me about you?

Katherine: Inside my purse would tell you I wear contacts, have a toddler who needs lots of things to color, carry around random socks or bandanas, often have a pocket knife, and keep pens handy.

Carrie: can never have too many pens!

Q: If Hollywood wanted to produce Toes in the Tulip as a movie, who would you want to be cast as the lead roles? 

Katherine: I know she isn’t available now, but Betty White would have made the perfect Gladys.

Carrie: oh yes! I can totally see that!

Q: Did you have the whole plot outlined before you started writing Toes in the Tulip, or did you let the characters dictate what came next?

Katherine: Oh, the characters definitely get the biggest say-so in my books. I have a general beginning and ideas of scenes I want to use but the mystery is something I ravel and unravel as I go 😊

Carrie: sounds like a fun process 🙂

Q: What is one of your favorite quotes from Toes in the Tulip & why do you love it?

Katherine: Here is one of my favorite quotes from main character Gladys:

“There are so many things going wrong on my hat that nobody will even look at my face. Plus, when people wear something this hideous, most people take tiny glances and look away because staring would be extremely rude. So,” she summarized, “I’ve basically just made myself invisible.”

I love this quote because it captures a truth about people – we often glance away and block out the things we don’t want to see that don’t fit in our pretty, normal boxes. But the fact that Gladys tells her friend ‘I’ve basically just made myself invisible’ also cracks me up and gives that perfect dose of humor!

Carrie: i loved Gladys in the book I read and I can just picture her saying that haha!

Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! 🙂

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What about you? What makes you want to read Toes in the Tulips by Katherine H. Brown?