📚 A Bookish Chat with 'A Change in Plans' Mike Martin #AuthorInterview @mike54martin

Today we welcome Mike Martin to The Writer's Life e-Magazine! Mike is the author of the new mystery, A Change in Plans, and this interview is part of his Blog Tour by Pump Up Your Book. Enjoy!

Mike Martin was born in St. John’s, NL on the east coast of Canada and now lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario. He is a long-time freelance writer and his articles and essays have appeared in newspapers, magazines and online across Canada as well as in the United States and New Zealand.

He is the award-winning author of the best-selling Sgt. Windflower Mystery series, set in beautiful Grand Bank. There are now 17 books in this light mystery series with the publication of A Change in Plans.

A Tangled Web was shortlisted in 2017 for the best light mystery of the year, and Darkest Before the Dawn won the 2019 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award. All That Glitters was shortlisted for the LOLA 2024 Must Read Book of the year award.

Some Sgt. Windflower Mysteries are now available as audiobooks and the latest Darkest Before the Dawn was released as an audiobook in 2024. All audiobooks are available from Audible in Canada and around the world.

Mike is Past Chair of the Board of Crime Writers of Canada, a national organization promoting Canadian crime and mystery writers and a member of the Newfoundland Writers’ Guild and Capital Crime Writers.

Visit Mike’s website at https://sgtwindflowermysteries.com.

Connect with him on social media at:

╰┈➤ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkerOnTheCapeReviewsAndMore

╰┈➤ Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mike54martin

A Change in Plans is the 17th book in your Sgt. Windflower Mystery series set in Newfoundland. In your experience, what makes a "cozy" crime investigation so much fun to read?

I think that it's about more than the crime or murder. It's about food, family, friends and living in a small town.

The Sgt. Windflower series is known for its "quietly powerful" tone, focusing on community, kindness, and traditional "whodunit" mystery elements. Can you tell us why you focused on these admirable traits?

Those elements are what drew me to the mystery genre in the first place. I think that small town community life is fascinating. And kindness may be the most important thing of all. The Dalai Lama says: "Whenever possible, be kind. And it's always possible."

Which of the characters from A Change in Plans do you most closely identify with and why?

Windflower is who I would like to be when I grow up. Tizzard has a lot of my goofy charactristics.

Are any of the characters based on real life people?

No, although there are some composite characters. But I do sneak real people's names into the books from time to time as a joke between me and them.

What do you think sets A Change in Plans apart from other books of the same genre?

The setting in unique and having an RCMP Officer, a Mountie also helps it stand out.

What season does your book take place?

Autumn

What location does your book take place?

Grand Bank and Marystown in Newfoundland. Then shifts to Mississauga and Oshawa in Ontario. But all in Canada.

Do you think writing a “cozy” whodunit is more complex than writing books of other genres?

No, it's just a genre. No harder or easier than any other genre. I think writing non-fiction would be hard work though.

What’s next for you?

Book 18 is already in the works. I hope the muse will carry me through.

RCMP officer Winston Windflower’s rare afternoon off gets interrupted when a hit and run turns into murder and he must pull together a team of Mounties from Newfoundland to resolve the crime. Following the money and fentanyl— and bodies—Windflower and his team join forces with police officers in southern Ontario to take down an international drug-smuggling ring.

Windflower must face personal doubts and fears when fellow Mountie Fil Romano is kidnapped. While the higher-ups at HQ make plans to give safe passage to the drug lords in return for Romano’s life, Windflower worries Romano will get caught in the crossfire. Windflower again looks to his friends and allies for help in the difficult hours and days ahead.

╰┈➤Book Details