Lynn Slaughter

 

I’ve always been fascinated by folks who renovate and flip houses, and M.E. Bakos has created an engaging cozy mystery series featuring a home renovator who regularly encounters plenty of intrigue, not to mention dead bodies, in her line of work. Below are her responses to my interview questions, followed by her bio and contact/buy links:

First off, congratulations on the release of MORTAL FLIP, the fifth book in your Home Renovator Mystery series. Can you share with our readers a bit about the book and the series?

MORTAL FLIP continues Katelyn’s adventures in house flipping and her relationship with Don Williams, the hunky sheriff in fictional Crocus Heights, Minnesota. In every cozy mystery, there is a dead body, maybe not in the house, but a death associated with the house. In this mystery, she is preoccupied with life changes because of her engagement. She is unaware that her purchase of a two-story rehab is from a person of interest in a murder at the best employer in town. The murder and suspects have been all over the news. When BFF Myra clues her in, the fun is on with a nosy neighbor, and the cast of characters from the series, including a cat named Boots.

What led you to decide to make Katelyn, your amateur sleuth, a home renovator? Is this a field you have experience in, or did you do a lot of research to give her career such authenticity?

My father was a farmer/carpenter. I was his helper while he worked on our farm house. In another lifetime, I had a real estate license, an insurance sales license, and interned writing a home improvement newsletter. I’ve always had a passion for DIY and, as a homeowner, have done many home improvements. Now, I’m more likely to have someone do the work. But I still love a project and home improvement. I do research and keep files on project ideas. 

Are there particular authors and books that have inspired you and your work?

There are so many talented authors. As a child, I loved Beverly Cleary books and mysteries, later the romance writers, Danielle Steele, and now cozy authors. Usually, the snarky voices of a Sally Berneathy or M. C. Beaton appeal to be me.

As an author of “stand-alone” novels, I’m fascinated by authors who create whole series. When you first came up with the idea of writing this series, did you plot out the overall story arc of the series, or is this something that you’ve developed organically as you’ve gone along? 

I hadn’t planned on writing a series. After my first two books, FATAL FLIP and DEADLY FLIP, I thought that would be it. My husband persuaded me I needed a trilogy, so LETHAL FLIP grew out of the pandemic and Katelyn’s task of renovating a house without the help of her carpenter. KILLER FLIP evolved from the ending of LETHAL FLIP. Now, MORTAL FLIP continues Katelyn’s arc. It was organic. There was more story to be told.

How has Katelyn grown and changed during the course of these five books?

Katelyn is a work in progress. Although she has found the career and a man she loves, there is Eddy, the pesky ex-husband that shows up and reminds her of a time when they were teenagers in love. Although she has put her marriage with Jake, the man she was widowed from in perspective (it’s complicated) and is ready to move on, a third marriage with the sheriff is terrifying. And there is always the mystery and confrontation with a killer. There may be another romantic complication or a dead body mystery coming. Lol. 

I know that you’ve also written a number of short stories that have appeared in anthologies. What have you found are the similarities and differences in writing short versus full-length fiction?

I loved writing short stories. I never thought of writing full-length mystery novels until I joined SINC. After writing long, it’s harder for me to write a good short story. Everything must be compressed into a tight story that satisfies the reader. In writing a novel, there can be a space for a subplot that explains the character to carry the reader along. Both short and long fiction have to satisfy the reader’s expectations.

Can you share with our readers what your writing process is like?

I start with a germ of an unsolved murder, a house that needs work, the character’s current state of mind, and the story develops. I have an idea of where I’m heading, make a rough outline, and write every day, rewriting and editing until I have a first draft, then send it off to beta readers. One is a former editor, who rips everything apart, and asks questions that provoke another draft. From there, I finesse and do my final draft. It’s a process.   

A related question: What’s a typical writing day like in your life?

I write every day or a certain number of words per week. I write in the morning, and knock off early in the afternoon. When I am in final edits, I extend that to evenings so not to lose the thread of the story.

What are you currently working on?

I’m kicking around ideas of what could happen in book six of A Home Renovator Mystery with Katelyn and crew. I wrote a romance that has been languishing, and the people in my life have encouraged me to move forward with the seasonal feel-good story. It’s a sweet romance, a different genre for me, and kind of scary. Back in the day, I wrote short romance stories, and they were perfect in that they were published without a pen-name. Now I’ll publish it under my mystery pen-name. It’s called THE PERFECT MATCH. Look for it this fall.

Anything else you’d like to add, or wish I’d asked that I didn’t?

You ask great questions! I believe we covered everything. Thank you, Lynn, for hosting me on your blog.

BIO:

M.E. Bakos writes cozy mysteries about a house flipper, turned sleuth, in fictional Crocus Heights, Minnesota. She has published short stories in Twin Cities Sisters in Crime anthologies, and was a regular fiction contributor to national women’s magazines. She is an alumna of the University of MN.

If she isn’t plotting mysteries, she’s planning home improvements. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, Joe, and a spoiled pooch named Chipper.

You can reach her at mebakos@yahoo.com On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mebakos/

https://www.facebook.com/mary.sebesta.90/ Website: https://mebakos.wixsite.com/author

Her series: A Home Renovator Mystery starts with Fatal Flip, Deadly Flip, Lethal Flip, and Killer Flip. All earned five-star ratings from Readers’ Favorite. Mortal Flip, Book 5, released August 1, 2024.

Buy links for Mortal Flip: Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Mortal-Flip-Home-Renovator-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0D92SPN8J/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3OX3K7KYOC9XY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.r8wMbyYP-lbsm6AJmJT0gw.eidChQ4bNBnCbIkNJOJpiHrKzqoAGOnhHVUY9-oJbT4&dib_tag=se&keywords=M.+E.+Bakos&qid=1725373268&s=books&sprefix=m.+e.+bakos%2Cstripbooks%2C114&sr=1-1

 B&N, MORTAL FLIP: A Home Renovator Mystery|eBook

Nook, ‎Mortal Flip

Kobo, Mortal Flip ebook by M. E. Bakos – Rakuten Kobo

Buy Links for the Whole Series: FATAL, DEADLY, LETHAL, KILLER, & MORTAL FLIP