An interview with author Debra Goldstein . . .
The Bethlehem Writers Roundtable is fortunate to interview cozy mystery author and fellow Bethlehem Writers Group member Debra H. Goldstein. Some words used to describe her are judge, author, litigator, wife, stepmom, mother of twins, and civic volunteer, and yet she still has found time to write. And not just write, but also well published! Her novels and short stories are Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, and Claymore finalists and have won IPPY, Silver Falchion, AWC, and BWR awards. And she’s served on the national boards of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and was president of the Guppy and SEMWA chapters.
You can follow Debra at any of these places: her website at www.DebraHGoldstein.com; on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DebraHGoldsteinAuthor; on X at @DebraHGoldstein; on Instagram at www.instagram.com/debrahgoldstein/; and on Bookbub at www.bookbub.com/profile/debra-h-goldstein.
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Interview by BWG member Diane Sismour
Bethlehem Writers Group: What two or three things do you feel people need to know in order to understand who you are?
Debra H. Goldstein: From your kind introduction, I think it is obvious that I have a type A personality, and yet there is nothing I enjoy more than sitting on a couch staring at a fire or being in an air-conditioned beach condo mesmerized by the ebb and flow of waves.
BWG: Does writing energize or exhaust you?
DHG: Writing both energizes and exhausts me. When my work in progress isn’t progressing, I’m out of sorts and exhausted. When the words flow, I lose all track of time. It is only when I finish the story or the portion of the piece that is in my brain, that I feel drained. The difference is that this type of exhaustion is exhilarating rather than frustrating.
BWG: Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
DHG: During the past twelve years, I have been fortunate to have more than forty short stories and seven novels traditionally published. Because many of my short stories are darker than my cozy or traditional books, I have developed a mixed reader base who regularly follow my newsletter, giveaways, blogs, and appearances (sign-ups and other contact information can be found at www.DebraHGoldstein.com). Many of these readers contact me every month via e-mail or the contact page on my website to tell me that they enjoy my writing, that they feel they’ve gotten to know me, or how much they look forward to seeing “My Littlest Readers” in my newsletters. Occasionally, someone doesn’t like something or catches a print error, but for the most part, the correspondence, which I always respond to, is favorable. I think my underlying belief that I owe it to readers to provide a fun experience that, at least for a few hours, distracts them from their own lives, is the beginning basis of most of our ongoing communications.
BWG: How do you get inspired to write?
DHG: Unlike writers who set daily word count goals, I can only write when the muse strikes. That means there can be long time gaps between projects, or sometimes even paragraphs. Most of my inspiration comes from a word or phrase that I hear or that simply pops into my mind. The other way I’m inspired to write is from open or invitational themed submission calls. In those instances, I have a topic to write toward, but the key is for me to come up with a slant that differs from what most people will think of. When that occurs, I’ve got the inspiration I need to get into the writing zone.
BWG: How much research do you do for your books?
DHG: The amount of research I do for each of my books can be answered simply: “It depends.” When I wrote the 2012 IPPY winning Maze in Blue, an academic mystery set on the University of Michigan’s campus, I didn’t have to do any formal research because the story I wanted to tell incorporated the knowledge of the campus and campus life from when I was a student there. My second book, Should Have Played Poker: A Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery, the story of a young corporate attorney whose mother is killed hours after she returns from a twenty-three-year absence and leaves her daughter with a sealed envelope, required a lot of setting research. Both books were orphaned when their respective publishers went out of business, but I knew that the next book I wanted to write was a cozy mystery.
Cozy mysteries usually feature an amateur sleuth, a small town or confined setting, a cat, and a craft or hobby. I had no problem writing about amateur sleuths or small towns, having already done both, but I didn’t know anything about cats (we had dogs) and I’m allergic to cooking, baking, and most hobbies. I was about to give up when I realized that there had to be readers out there like me. Consequently, Sarah Blair, a woman who finds being in the kitchen more frightening than murder, was born.
Although Sarah’s feelings about the kitchen are like mine, the writing of One Taste Too Many required a significant amount of research. First, I had to learn about cats. I Googled and read everything I could about cat varieties, how cats behave, what they are fed, and any other aspects that I could think of. Once I settled upon RahRah, Sarah’s cat, being Siamese, I called a friend who had a Siamese cat and spent an afternoon interviewing my friend about her cat and observing how the two interacted. That night, she sent me a picture of her cat, which I kept in my desk drawer. When the book was sold to Kensington and I was asked how the cat should be depicted on the cover, I pulled out the picture and used that for my description.
Besides researching cats, the Sarah Blair series, which now has five books, has required extensive restaurant and professional kitchen research. Birmingham, Alabama, where I live, is a foodie town. I know many of the chefs and restaurant owners, who have proved very willing to take me behind the scenes and explain everything from freezers and food preparation to knives. The books have also necessitated my interviewing and shadowing veterinarians, motorcycle club members, educators, vegans, politicians, and television crews.
Finally, because Kensington required recipes for each book, I had to do extensive recipe research for recipes that might be up Sarah’s alley. That’s why readers will find recipes like Jell-O in a Can and Spinach Pie made with Stouffer’s Souffle in the Sarah Blair books. Kensington decided my recipes were so amusing, they created a book, Simple Recipes for the Sometimes Sleuth, that you can download for free from the homepage of my website: www.DebraHGoldstein.com.
BWG: Do you aim for a set amount of words/pages per day?
DHG: Never. I write best when the muse strikes—and then I can’t stop until I finish what is in my head.
BWG: What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
DHG: When I first began writing seriously, I was still balancing being on the bench, and civic and family responsibilities. Consequently, any writing I did was extremely structured between midnight and two a.m. or on weekends. Once I retired from my full-time job, any sense of a writing schedule went out the window. The only thing that was and is consistent is the quirk that I write best if there is show music or songs with a strong lyrical presence playing in the background.
BWG: Is there a message in your novels that you want readers to grasp?
DHG: My goal is for every book to be a fun distraction for readers. That said, I believe it is important to include and educate about social issues, without beating the reader over the head. Consequently, each of my books has a subplot that deals with social issues, including economic development, animal rescue, veterans, and ageism.
BWG: How can readers discover more about you and your work?
DHG: I feel very fortunate to already be under contract for six short stories to appear in 2024 and 2025. For readers to keep up with these and the other things I am doing, they can go to my website and sign up for my newsletter or follow me through Facebook, X, Instagram or Bookbub.
I also blog regularly for The Stiletto Gang, Booklovers Bench (where readers are winners), and Writers Who Kill.