Saturday I hosted author 

Elizabeth Logan aka Camille Minichino during the tour for the first book in her new series. 

A young chef might bite off more than she can chew when she returns to her Alaskan hometown to take over her parents' diner in this charming first installment in a new cozy mystery series set in an Alaskan tourist town.

When Chef Charlie Cooke is offered the chance to leave San Francisco and return home to Elkview, Alaska, to take over her mother's diner, she doesn't even consider saying no. After all--her love life has recently become a Love Life Crumble, and a chance to reconnect with her roots may be just what she needs.

Determined to bring fresh life and flavors to the Bear Claw Diner, Charlie starts planning changes to the menu, which has grown stale over the years. But her plans are fried when her head cook Oliver turns up dead after a bitter and public fight over Charlie's ideas--leaving Charlie as the only suspect in the case.

With her career, freedom, and life all on thin ice, Charlie must find out who the real killer is, before it's too late.

I had the honor of interviewing Camille on my blog back on May 25, 2014. I thought it would be fun to share it with you. 

Here it is in all of it's unedited glory. 

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Interview with author 

Camille Minichino

Under her own name, Camille wrote the Periodic Table Mysteries. Using the pen name Margaret Grace she writes the Miniature Mysteries. And using her pen name Ada Madison she writes the Professor Sophie Knowles Mysteries.

LKBR: Thank you so much for stopping by, Camille. I know you’re a busy lady!

CM: Like you, I wouldn't have it any other way! I love getting up in the morning with many options in front of me. Thanks for adding to my fun today!

LKBR: Thank you so much for stopping by, Camille. I know you’re a busy lady!

CM: Like you, I wouldn't have it any other way! I love getting up in the morning with many options in front of me. Thanks for adding to my fun today!

LKBR: I was fascinated to find you have a Ph.D. in physics. That explains your incredible knowledge when writing the Periodic Table and Professor Sophie Knowles Mysteries. How did you come to be interested in physics? 

CM: I was lucky enough to have two female math teachers in high school – in the fifties, no less, in a public school. By the time I realized that girls weren't supposed to do well in math or science, it was too late – those women had given me the great gift of their confidence in me and the belief that I could do anything I wanted to. From there on, it was an easy and natural path!

LKBR: You also make amazing miniatures which also led into a series. Where did you develop your love for the craft?

CM: Another legacy from childhood. My father was a laborer, very good with his hands. He built me a dollhouse. There was no other competition from a roomful of other toys as today's kids enjoy, so I spent a lot of time with a favorite cousin furnishing and decorating the house. 

LKBR: What led you to wanting to use your knowledge in these subjects to write mysteries?

CM: I loved to read mysteries, especially the whodunits, which were as much fun as algebra! Once I saw what Sue Grafton was doing with the A, B, C's, it was clear what I needed to do. I couldn't believe no one had already latched onto the periodic table, where there were more than 100 possibilities for a crime. Once I started, of course, it was hard to stop. Why shouldn't every aspect of my life be turned into a mystery?

LKBR: Do you have a favorite among your series?

CM: I know many authors feel this way: that the first series will always have a special place. But for many of us also, the latest book is a favorite. We like to assume that we get better with each book! At least, I hope I do.

LKBR: Would you share a little bit about your current work in progress?

CM: I'm starting a new series, the Post Office Mysteries, working on the first one now. Unlike the other three series, it's not based on one of my careers, except that I did spend Christmas vacations working at our local post office. It seemed to me that very few other jobs can claim to be such a crossroads of the lives of a town's citizens. Who's writing to whom? Who's getting mail from prison? From the IRS? Who's shipping packages to . . .  well, you see. Ideal for an amateur sleuth!

LKBR: Do you have any plans or ideas for a new series or maybe a standalone title?

CM: I did publish a standalone on amazon Kindle a couple of months ago. KILLER IN THE CLOISTER is based on another part of my life – 18 years as a nun. On the other hand, a second CLOISTER mystery is starting to brew . . . 

I'm also working on a book of short stories with a friend, which will contain some of our flash fiction as well as novella.
When you've lived a long time, there's a lot to write about!

LKBR: Please share three things about yourself that you would like your readers to know.

CM: 1.  I'm a teacher, even more than a physicist, mathematician, crafter . . . I love to teach and still do so.   

2. I'm a survivor of some nasty things as a kid. The dollhouse above was my refuge when things got rough. So were books. And teachers. I was very lucky to have all those options. I mention this only to encourage younger people especially those who might be having a hard time right now.

3. I LOVE television crime dramas. Guilty pleasure that I justify by claiming I'm doing research on story structure. No one believes me.


LKBR: Thank you, Camille for stopping by.

CM: Thank you very much, LKBR!


You can learn more about Camille at the following links.

Website: http://www.minichino.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Camille-Minichino/264074600273010
Twitter: https://twitter.com/minichino

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I hope you enjoy that looks back.

I know I sure did!