The House on Crow Mountain by Rebecca Lee Smith | Author Interview

Hi, Rebecca, Thanks for taking the time to share a bit about yourself with my readers and me!

Tell us a little about yourself.

I live in the misty mountains of East Tennessee with my husband and a dog named Wilbur. I’ve been everything from a tax collector to a stay-at-home-mom to a house painter to a professional actress and director. I’m a boy-mom, but my two sons are grown and married. They each live about an hour from me in opposite directions (one in Virginia, and one in North Carolina), but now that we’re all vaccinated, we’ve been able to spend some time together in person instead of on Zoom. Gotta love Zoom, though. It was a lifeline for me last year during the pandemic, as I’m sure it was for a lot of families.

How long have you been writing?

A little over thirty years ago, I put my five-year-old on the bus to kindergarten, sat at the kitchen table, and wrote my first scene. It wasn’t very good, and I had no idea what I was doing, but it gave me a sense of accomplishment that fed my soul like nothing ever had. Of course, at the time, I was nine months pregnant with my second child, so the quiet afternoons spent trying to learn how to write were short-lived. It took me a long time to get published, but I’m one of those writers who just kept plugging along and didn’t give up.

Did you always want to be an author? What made you choose the cozy mystery genre?

I did always want to be an author. Growing up, I was an avid reader (thanks to my mom, who never went to bed without a book), but I didn’t try to write anything until I was home with a five-year-old and a baby on the way. It seemed like a cheap and easy way to keep myself sane. I worked in theater for years acting and directing, which gave me a pretty good ear for dialogue and timing. I’ve never been interested in being a playwright, though. My first two books were romantic suspense, but I have always loved cozy mysteries, both British and American. It occurred to me one day, while I was reading a cozy, that that’s where my heart lay, and that’s what I should be writing.

Do you prefer to read cozy mystery books, or do you have another favorite genre? What are you reading now?

I love cozy mysteries, but I read all kinds of things. I’m waiting for Sherry Harris’ new cozy, A Time to Swill—where does she get those great titles?—to come out next week, and I just finished a wonderful book called The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister.

Do you have a favorite place to write?

In a cottage at Kill Devil Hills, NC, upstairs on the widow’s walk, facing the ocean. If I’m at home in the mountains, I love to write outside on my patio until the mosquitos start snacking on me.

What’s on your desk (if you write at one!)?

My computer, a notepad, a box of Kleenex, Aveeno lotion, a ceramic cup shaped like the Evil Queen in Snow White’s head for pens and pencils, a blue stone paperweight shaped like a heart, a sign that says The Crab Is In, a pumpkin butter candle, a vase of tiny white flowers, and an glass hourglass that runs out in 47 minutes.

What is the first book you remember reading as a child? What was one of your favorite books you read as a child?

I still have most of my books from when I was a child. My favorites were Brer Rabbit and Cinderella. I also loved a book called Mr. Popper’s Penguins. When I got a little older, Little Women was my favorite book. But I didn’t want to be Jo, as most writers do, I wanted to be Amy. Amy gets to go to Europe and wear fabulous clothes. Amy gets the guy.

Do you like audiobooks, physical books, or e-books better? Why?

Physical or e-books. If it’s something I cherish or know I’ll want to keep for a long time, I buy the hardcover. (My husband swears by audiobooks while he’s driving to work.) When I’m reading a physical book then switch to my Kindle, I keep reaching to the righthand corner of the screen to turn the page.

If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting, where would you choose?

Edinburgh, Scotland or Florence, Italy. I love them both equally.

Do you have any author friends who support you while you’re writing? Do you belong to any writing groups?

I belong to Sisters in Crime. When I was writing romance, I belonged to Romance Writers of America, which was my first experience at finding out that authors can be a great source of inspiration and support for one another.

Finally, what are you working on now? Can you tell us a bit about it?

I have finished a cozy mystery about an art teacher who finds the town matriarch’s dead body (who is the richest most despised woman in town) then discovers that the woman bequeathed her fortune to her out of spite.

Thank you so much for this! I loved reading your answers!