Author Interview—Elle Hartford

Did you love reading fairy tales when you were a child, or having them read to you? I know I did, which is why my interview with Elle Hartford really piqued my interest. Elle is the author of cozy mysteries based on fairy tales. Her latest is Death Pulls the Strings, currently available for preorder, and publishing on December 8th. Enjoy the interview!

About the Author

Elle adores cozy mysteries, fairy tales, and above all, learning new things. As a historian and educator, she believes in the value of stories as a mirror for complicated realities. She currently lives in New Jersey with a grumpy tortoise and a three-legged cat.

Find more stories of Red and her friends at ellehartford.com. And if you’re an author looking for some extra support or practical questions answered about wide indie publishing, check out the “Author Services” listed on the website as well!

Interview

Who or what inspires you to write?

I just have to start out by saying thank you so much for having me! I’m excited to dive into these questions. For me, writing is a very important emotional outlet. Whenever I need to process something in my life, I often do it through writing a similar event in a story. For example, in my first mystery, Beauty and the Alchemist, some of the characters deal with learning to express themselves or stand up to others who are making them feel small. (It helps that each book in my series is a retold fairy tale, and many fairy tales deal with deep emotions!) I also become strongly attached to my characters, so in a sense, they become my motivation to keep going whenever I have doubts.

Retelling fairy tales as cozy mysteries is such an interesting idea. They must be really fun to write. What is the best thing that has happened because of your writing?

I treasure each connection with a reader that I’m able to make because of my books. Beauty and the Alchemist was even given an award by readers, out of the blue, which was amazing. It just blows my mind! But one of the truly touching things that’s happened was this time last year. I’d just “rapid released” the first four Alchemical Tales novels in a row that fall, and as you can imagine, I was pretty worn out! But my fiancé got together all our friends–literally, I think he must have called everyone we know!–and he put together the most amazing “series launch” party. I love my books so much, but the party was a great reminder that I am loved too. (It’s funny how we can lose sight of that sometimes!)

Your fiancé definitely sounds like a keeper—what a wonderful thing for him to do. What is the most difficult thing you have experienced about writing or publishing?

For me, the greatest difficulty is usually putting myself forward. I tend to second-guess myself often, especially when my dreams are on the line! But being an author has taught me so much about where confidence comes from. That, and how to deal with big companies and distributors. As a “wide” self-published author, I’ve definitely learned some hard lessons about dealing with technicalities and processing delays that I had never even considered before!

There is so much to learn with book publishing, and I’m sure many authors share your pain with delays and technicalities. Was there anything you didn’t do during your writing or publishing journey that you wish you had?

This is a tough one. I don’t necessarily have regrets about my publishing journey–one of the truly wonderful things about being an indie author is that, because I have control of my work, I can also usually fix my mistakes. It isn’t always easy, of course, but I can do it! For example, last spring, I released special second editions of Beauty and the Alchemist and all the Alchemical Tales novels up to that point in order to change how the books were distributed (and also so that I could add in fun extras like recipes, bonus epilogues, and updated maps!). It took a lot of extra work but I am proud to have done it, and happy that I was able to learn a lesson and make something better.

That does sound like a lot of work, and kudos to you for getting it done! You said you are an indie (self-published) author. Why did you decide to go that route?

Yes, I’m an indie author, specifically a “wide” author (that means my books are not in Kindle Unlimited, but they are on Amazon’s Kindle store and everywhere else). I did a lot of research before I made my choice–and by that I mean a year or more of research. Ultimately, for me, it was largely a genre-based decision.

As another “wide” author, I understand the research involved in making that decision. Which genre(s) do you like to write in, and why?

So now let’s talk about cozy genres! The Alchemical Tales are “cozy mystery with a fairy tale twist,” or more plainly, cozy mystery crossed with cozy fantasy. (“Cozy fantasy” is a lovely emerging genre that focuses on day-to-day stories instead of epic royal dramas and the like.) As an example of how this works: I have an amateur sleuth, Red, who runs her own business and relies on her friends and has a spunky animal companion, of course; but her business is alchemy, and she lives in a fairy tale town in the mountains. It’s like paranormal or “witchy” cozies with the added step of being in another world. I had such a specific vision for this series, which is part of the reason I chose to self-publish!

Your books sound like a lot of fun. Do you outline your books before you write them?

I do . . . sort of. I’m very much a character-driven writer, so before I start, I have to envision all the players involved. (This is easy for my beloved main characters like Red and her dog William, but sometimes takes me a little longer to get a good grip on side characters who come and go!) Once I have character profiles written down, I usually sketch out a rough outline. But to be honest, when it comes to certain twists or turns in the plot, I’m more of a “discovery” writer. Sometimes the characters do something and I realize, “oh, of course! This is how it all fits together!”

It sounds like you’re sort of a hybrid, plotter and pantser, and it’s certainly working for you. How do you define success as a writer?

Another very hard question! This has definitely been part of my personal journey. The simple fact is, no matter what kind of author you are, you just can’t make people buy your book or will it into becoming a bestseller. There are no guarantees for things like that. But! You can control yourself and be proud of your own actions. So for me, success is writing stories with compassion, warmth, and curiosity, polishing them up into the best versions of themselves, and then being brave enough to share them with the world. Everything else is icing on the cake.

That’s a great definition of success. If you could have lunch with any author, who would it be?

Can we resurrect authors for this? There are many wonderful authors alive, of course, but I’d just adore sitting down with Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There’s no denying that Sherlock Holmes was the one to get me into mysteries in the first place, and that Poirot has continued to be an inspiration ever since!

I’ve heard from more than one author who would love to have lunch with Agatha Christie. She wrote wonderful adventures. Tell us about a great adventure you’ve had.

l love to travel, and luckily my fiancé does, too, but we don’t often get the chance–for the past few years, I’ve been heavily invested in writing and consulting with other authors, and he is working on his PhD. So, when he realized a really important conference was coming up in Cambridge, we both saw it as an excuse for a vacation . . . Bear in mind that this was Cambridge, UK, not Cambridge, MA! We pulled everything together and made it work: I’d tag along, and we’d stay two nights in London before the conference. We knew the trip itself would be amazing, but the big concern was the flights. My fiancé hates flying. Add to that the fact that our flight there was a red-eye, and you can see why I had some concerns!

A week before the trip, he starts getting a little shifty about that first day in London. I had assumed we’d arrive on Wednesday morning, be totally worn out from the stress of flying and the time change, and probably stay close to our AirBnB. But suddenly my fiancé starts asking questions. “How much energy do you think you’ll have? Do you think you’ll be really tired?” I don’t know, you’re the one who’s probably going to be awake and alert all night long on the plane! I thought, but didn’t say. I could tell he had one of his famous surprises up his sleeve (I refer you to my response to the second question, above!). Finally I agreed that yes, I would probably be fine to go out on Wednesday night, provided we rested beforehand.

And you know where we went?

Seats high enough off the ground that my jet-lagged brain was starting to feel very dizzy . . . until The Mousetrap began, and then I was captivated.

He took me to see Agatha Christie’s great play–the longest-running production in the western world, might I add! It was incredible. I won’t tell you anything about the play itself, naturally; I wouldn’t want to ruin the mystery. But I will say that the whole trip was part of the inspiration for my latest book, Death Pulls the Strings. It’s a fractured Pinocchio retelling in which Red tags along on a conference trip to the big city . . . and finds that she still has a lot to learn about family and magic.

Thank you so much for having me on, again, and for bearing with my long story!

Wow, your fiancé is definitely a keeper—what a wonderful surprise! Elle, thank you so much for sharing some of your writing and publishing journey with us!

Readers, you can find out more about Elle’s books on her website, ellehartford.com.

Death Pulls the Strings (on preorder, coming December 8)

In this magical mix-up of fairy tales and murder, Little Red Riding Hood solves the mystery at the heart of Pinocchio. ..

What does it mean to be truly “alive?”

Red is looking forward to accompanying her boyfriend to a conference in the big city, Brass. Too bad her best friend and magical companion, William, isn’t on board! In fact, William’s been acting strange, and it’s only when he hears of a murder in Brass that he decides to tag along.

Along with their friend Officer Thorn, Red and William have been asked to consult as impartial investigators in the death of a city gnome. The problem? It wasn’t only a gnome who died: an enchanted broom was found destroyed as well. To make matters worse, the crime was reported by a young “puppet” who wasn’t taken seriously at first. With each new twist and clue, Red finds herself more tangled up in strings of deceit, magic, and politics. The entire city of Brass is wondering if puppets and magical creatures can act freely–and in the midst of it all, William is preoccupied with a shadowy stranger. ..

With each new mystery, Red is willing to learn something new. But this time, what she learns just may be the most elusive quality of all: what it takes to be a real friend!

Readers, what do you think it means to be truly “alive?” Let us know in the comments.