I can’t think of a better way to start fall than with this new author interview series! Each of these authors writes paranormal cozy mysteries with WITCHES!! So hang on to your pointed hat, we’re in for some exciting times ahead as we race with our brooms to meet each of these magical authors. Starting with…

Jane is an Aussie writer of fun paranormal cozies. She lives with her “Non-paranormal man”, two cats and a turtle. Jane also writes as Sahra Stone. She has several series, The Ghost Detective and The Gravestone Mysteries and of course her Witch Way Paranormal Cozy Mysteries. Her books are available in ebook, print, and audible. Be sure to sign up for her Newsletter and follow her on Facebook.

Now lets find out a bit more about Jane’s witch, Harper Jones…

What type of witch do you write (think Bewitch, Sabrina, Charmed, Hocus Pocus)?
I would say, my witches are an older version of Sabrina, with a little of Charmed thrown in to mix things up.

Tell us what time frame your stories are in and what setting or world?
My stories are set in the present age in a fictional setting in the USA—people often ask what town my cozies are based on and honestly, they are just made up in my head. I’m an Aussie, I haven’t been to America (yet!) so rather than doing an actual town a disservice, I literally just make it up in my head. Whitefall Cove is a town full of witches, vampires, shifters who live together in harmony… sort of.

Who is your protagonist?
Harper Jones is my witch extraordinaire in the Witch Way series. She’s so much fun, but I think, just between you and me, that everyone loves her Gran a little bit more. Harper has returned to her hometown after breaking up with her fiancée and losing her job in the city. So she’s back home, living with her Gran, when she winds up buying a bookstore. Just when she thinks things are looking up, the day she gets the keys to the bookstore, the realtor turns up dead.

Has she/he always known they were a witch? How did they discover their power?
Harper has always known she was a witch and grew up practicing magic. The twist in this series is that Harper broke the witches’ rules and had her power taken away (her witch’s license) and she needs to undergo training to get it back.

What sets your mysteries apart from other paranormal cozies?
I have a certain snark and sarcasm that my readers tell me is not only funny, but they can pick my books a mile off from that alone.

How much research do you do to create your story, and how much do you include in your books? Or your story pure fantasy?
Research is such a rabbit hole activity. I’ll research certain things (like how long does it take you to fly from Australia to the USA on a private jet) and three hours later you’re looking at something entirely different. So it can be a slippery slope. Because I write paranormal, there’s a certain leeway and you can make a lot up, but I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to use US terminology because, well basically we Australians speak differently and call things by different names, so I try to make my stories as American as possible.

Do you feel the crimes committed in paranormal cozy are very different from a contemporary cozy?
I have to say a lot of my crimes are pretty common and you’d definitely find them in a contemporary cozy. I have poisoning, whacking on the head with a rock, that sort of thing. But I also have magic crimes too, murder by hex for example.

So, that is our first in a great lineup of “Witchy Writers”. Are you ready to pull out your cauldron and cast a spell? I bet you will be soon! Happy Fall.

Victoria LK Williams