Reality Writes
The Reality Writes Podcast stars bestselling mystery author Ellie Alexander and her Tech Guy husband as they reveal the ins and outs of writing. Ellie, who has written for big names like Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, and indie publishers like Storm, shares her journey from story ideas to publishing. Together, they dive into the highs, lows, and funny moments of creating captivating stories. With a blend of humor and honesty, Reality Writes offers a behind-the-scenes look at the writing world. So grab your coffee (or wine) and join Ellie and the Tech Guy for some story-spinning secrets.
Reality Writes
Cozy Mystery Sneak Peek—The Pumpkin Vice Cafe
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We open this episode with an actual excerpt from The Pumpkin Vice Café, book 23 in my Bakeshop Mystery Series, releasing September 29th. Then The Tech Guy and I give a spoiler-free (of course) overview of this latest installment. We're back in Ashland during the fall in this one, from Lithia Park to the bustling plaza, the setting is picturesque and the perfect place to set a murder. Also, listen for a hint at a returning face that longtime readers are really going to love and for the reason that The Pumpkin Vice Café didn't originally have a single pumpkin recipe.
Preorder now and enter the publisher's giveaway for a Pumpkin Vice Café bundle and Torte goodies. Link below.
Preorder and enter the giveaway: https://read.macmillan.com/promo/pumpkinvicesweeps?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio
Ashland Mystery Fest (Oct 8-11): https://www.ashlandmysteryfest.com
Preorder, subscribe, and drop a comment with your best guess at who's making a guest appearance in this book.
🎉 Join me on Patreon for bonus content.
A Fall Excerpt And Big Announcement
Ellie AlexanderA cold November chill had settled over the Rogue Valley, dusting the top of Grizzly Peak with a powdery white snow, and enticing skiers and snowboarders to the slopes of Mount A for night skiing under a canopy of stars. There was a nice lull before the holiday season would kick off, and I was happy to take advantage of the slower pace. The plaza was a show of luscious colors, fall, crimson Japanese maples, burgundy dogwoods, flaxen ash and birch trees intermixed with the towering green conifers. A golden blush washed over the town as locals enjoyed the calmer energy leading up to the festive season. Shops and restaurants were decked out with cheery garlands of rustic pine, crab apples and clementines, rich maroon and butterscotch banners hung from street lamps, announcing next year's lineup of plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Downtown practically glowed beneath thousands of twinkle lights strung across Main Street and the eaves of the Elizabethan-style buildings. I sighed contentedly, thinking about how lucky I was to live in such a gorgeous place as I took a sip of my coffee. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Reality Writes. I am Author Ellie Alexander, and that was just an excerpt from my new book, The Pumpkin Vice Cafe, book 23 in the Bake Shop Mysteries, that releases on September 29th. And I'm here with a tech guy, and we decided we should shake it up and give you a little taste of what's to come.
Tech GuyYeah, that was that was great. Um, and that book is available for pre-order right now. And for the darlings out there who do want to pre-order, be sure to head to the show notes and look for the link because the publisher is actually doing
Pre-Order Giveaway And Spoiler Rules
Tech Guya special giveaway with this uh pre-order campaign, right?
Ellie AlexanderYes, they are. So you can win a whole Pumpkin Vice bundle and some special tort merch and bookmarks, and it's it's really good. You want to get in on this action.
Tech GuyGreat, that's awesome. So again, the link will be in the show notes. Uh, so be sure to get in on that. And that book again releases on September 29th. So today's episode is gonna be all about the Pumpkin Vice Cafe, but as usual, it's gonna be spoiler-free. Yes, no, nothing's gonna get ruined for anyone. What you just read was a nice little excerpt from page two, actually, right? Because page one actually does contain a spoiler. So big spoiler.
Ellie AlexanderRight on the first sentence.
Tech GuyDarlings, when we were uh putting this episode together, I was like, you know, it would be really great if you just read uh the first page or the first paragraph or something to just give a a taste of what's to come. And you were like, that's gonna be a little hard.
Ellie AlexanderYeah.
Tech GuySo we are going to talk about the pumpkin vice cafe and the big shop mystery series in general, but uh don't worry, darlings, there will be no spoilers. We've already avoided the biggest one, so uh true, no, no spoilers. But with that being said, let's get into it.
What Happens In Book 23
Tech GuyWhy don't you give everybody a quick overview of the Pumpkin Vice Cafe book 23 and the Bake Shop Mystery series?
Ellie AlexanderYes, it's I can't believe that we are already at book 23. It definitely seems impossible to me. This book is set in fall in November with the changing seasons. So we get a little taste of fall, and then we get a touch of winter in this book as well. And in a minute, we'll go into a reason behind that. Uh, but Jules is baking up a bevy of beautiful fall treats and autumn lattes. And uh Lance, her longtime friend, is planning a big event, shall we say? Without spoilers. Lance is planning a giant event, as only Lance can do. Darlings who follow the series for a long time, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. If you're new to the series, just think big event. And uh his event planner has a nasty fall in Ashland Creek and ends up dead. And of course, Jules and Lance are back on the case, and they're eating a lot of delicious pumpkin and sleuthing out a killer in the mean streets of Ashland as you do.
Tech GuyI love it. I love it. So this is book 23. There's been a lot of bake shop mysteries, a lot of bake shop mysteries. So, what is harder now about writing a new bake shop mystery? And what's easier?
Writing Ease Versus Responsibility
Ellie AlexanderOoh, yeah. I mean, okay, so let's start with the easy part first. And this is true when I'm working with new writers where I talk about muscle memory. When you're first building a world, characters, all of the secondary plots, there's so much creative headspace that goes into that because you are literally world building from the ground up. When I started the series, I didn't even know Juliet's name was going to be Juliet. I had a totally different name for her until I was three-quarters of the way through writing the first book. I had posters all over my office of what characters might look like and what they would wear and how do they sound. So all of that now is second nature. In some ways, it's terrifying because I know these characters as well as I know you or any other member of our family. Like it's just so easy to slip into their world. I don't have to think about how Lance is going to show up on a scene and what he's gonna say, or Carlos or Jules, or Andy, or any of the long-running characters. So that just feels so fluid and natural. And for me, it also feels like coming home. It's such a gift to write this series because I hope the takeaway for the darlings when you read this is that it's an escape. It's an equal escape for me when I'm writing it. Cause I'm like, oh, we're back in Ashland, the trees are changing, oh, there's snow dusting the top of Mount A. Like it's just, it's so seamless. So that's the easy part. The hard part, or the thing that's more challenging, I would say, is I feel a lot of I don't want to say pressure, but I feel a lot of responsibility because so many of you, darlings, thank you, thank you, thank you forever from the bottom of my heart, have come along on this journey with me. And I don't ever want to let you down, and I don't want to let Jules or the characters or myself down. And so I'm always cognizant of how do I make sure it's it stays fresh and authentic at the same time, right? Because fresh could look a lot of different ways. And I've had this experience, and I know you have too with reading, where it's like, okay, an author is just like bombarding you with all of this stuff that's like, all right, that's fresh, but it's not in line with what we've come to know and love. And so it's a real balance point of like making sure that I'm hitting all those right notes, I've got the touch and the flow of what it feels like to be in Ashland and part of Tort's community. And then I'm thinking about ways that all of the characters are growing, expanding, changing. And then last but not least, it's like, how do you keep the murder fresh?
Tech GuyThat was actually going to be my next question is how do you keep the murder fresh? How how do you keep the murder surprising 23 books in? And I know we've had discussions about this where you're like, oh, I can't, I mean, it can't be another poisoning. I just had a poisoning, you know, it just like trials of a of a mystery author, but uh, how do you how do you keep it fresh?
Keeping The Murder Surprising
Ellie AlexanderYeah, it's so funny because I just went to see a Poe speakeasy with uh Gigi Pondian this week. And she part way through the speakeasy will do you and I went to one too, which actually became an idea for another future book that I have in the works, but you they actors read Poe's work, and then in between each one, you have a cocktail or a mock tail. And Gigi leaned over in between the second or the third third one and said, you know, it is this is really helpful because what it's reminding me is that all of his stories are pretty much the same. Um, and I think there is sometimes like that idea of, oh my gosh, I have to make the the murder so outlandish, or I can't do a poisoning again, or I've already just pushed somebody off a cliff. I've got to find a new way to have somebody die. And I'm not sure that that's true. I think that what you have to deliver on, and what I want to deliver on as a writer, is that it's a very tightly crafted plot, that it's a believable villain, it's uh a lot of believable suspects, all who have strong motives for wanting our victim dead. And then at the end, that hopefully there's a surprise reveal as to who the killer is. And the last thing that I will say about this, and we touched on this a little bit, I think, in the AI episode, but I go into every story with every suspect having such a strong motive, secrets, lies, a viable reason for wanting our victim dead, that a lot of times I will be surprised myself at who ends up being the killer at the end. So I I think that really helps too. But I have lamented a lot about like, oh, what's a new way to kill someone?
Tech GuyYeah, you don't want to see her internet search history. Um, I'm sure there are people that'd be very interested in that. Uh, okay. So again, 23rd book. Jules has been in everyone. Is there something that Jules does that you have to write in every book that you're just like, I'm just so done writing that, but you've got to do it anyway?
The Baking Scene Every Time
Ellie AlexanderYeah, I mean, I don't think I'm so done with it, but again, I think I'm self-aware when I'm writing that she in every book she has to be baking. This is the like crux of the bake shop mysteries, right? And I love the baking writing, and it's so easy for me to fall into her rhythm in the kitchen and talk about it. But like, there's always gonna be a scene, as long as the book doesn't take place somewhere outside of Ashland, but most of them take place in Ashland and in Tor. So there's always gonna be a scene where she's baking in the morning and she has the quiet kitchen to herself, and she's just pondering on how beautiful life is and working on some beautiful dough. And then Andy's gonna come in and they're gonna have some banter, and he's gonna go upstairs and make her coffee, and then Marty's gonna come in and talk about bread delivery, and then Bethany's gonna come in, and they're gonna go over like what the design for the pastry is that day. So, like that trope, baking trope, I guess, is found in every single book. And so when I'm writing them, sometimes I'm like, oh, I've already done this before. Yeah, I've done this at least 23 times. And in some books, more than that, because there's a lot of time that they're spending in the kitchen while she's puzzling through the murder. But at the end of the day, like the Poe thing, I hope that one of the reasons that readers enjoy this is for that very thing.
Tech GuyYeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. And the bake shop mystery series would really not be the bake shop mystery series without the baking, right? Exactly. Yeah, yeah. Okay. On this book specifically, the Pumpkin Vice Cafe, what was the first image that came to mind when you were starting to write this? Like what came into your head before the plot even developed?
Ellie AlexanderI think one of the gifts of writing a long-running series is that when I'm wrapping up the book, the last book, I'm already starting to think about what's going to come next for the characters. So I usually have a stack of notes, thinking like, okay, this is where Jules is in her art. This is what's happening in Lance's world. Like, here's what I imagine will come next. So it usually starts with it's very character-driven, I would say, which is surprising because these are mysteries. And we've talked at length on this podcast about mysteries at the end of the day, they have to be formulaic in terms of the plot and the plot devices you use to get from a murder to solving it. But for this series in particular, it is so character driven that the first thing I'm always thinking about is what's happening next in their lives, in their world, in their like points of connection. And then from there, I start to figure out what the mystery is going to be.
Why Ashland Shines In November
Tech GuyThat's great. Let's talk a little bit about Ashland then, um, because Ashland is itself a character in the Bakeshop Mysteries. Um, it's not only the setting, but it definitely has kind of a life of its own. Ashland in the fall, though, is like a whole thing. What what do you get in Ashland in November that you don't get in June?
Ellie AlexanderOh, right. Yeah. I mean, first of all, that that little scene that I read to start the podcast of just the show of color. It is a riot of color all through the plaza. Lithia Park is stunning. Lithia Park is known as the crown jewel of Ashland, and that's it's all jewel-toned, and then you have so many evergreen trees mixed in. There's that like Christmas crispness to the air, and the shops are vibrant still, but it's also slowed down just a touch because in the summer with OSF, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, it's a lot of tourism in town. Whereas October, November tends to slow down just a touch. So especially when we were living there, we'd be like, oh, the plaza is ours again. We can walk anywhere, we can pop into coffee without a line. Like, so it feels uh like it has this real touch of magic. And then it is just visually stunning. So stunning. If you think about like your favorite small town, and then multiply that by 10 and add all the fall vibes, there you are.
Tech GuyI would have to agree. Lithia Park, just in general, the the different it is stunning in the summer. It's amazing, but in the fall, it's a whole other story. It's just it is spectacular. Um, super fun to walk through it in all seasons, but the fall is especially colorful for sure.
Ellie AlexanderWhich is one of the reasons we wanted to do Mystery Fest in the fall, because we want you darlings who are coming to visit Ashland to get to experience it at its peak fullness.
Tech GuyYeah. Well, and speaking of Mystery Fest, if for any darlings out there who don't know, it is coming up, and uh, I think there are still a few tickets available. So that is October 8th through the 11th, that's right. I believe. Yeah. And uh you can find more information at ashlandmysteryfest.com. I'll put a link to that in the show notes as well.
Ellie AlexanderGreat.
Tech GuyOkay.
Where To Start The Series
Tech GuyWe were talking the other day about the pumpkin vice cafe, and you had gotten a hold of some early reviews, and they were super positive. There were people that absolutely loved it, which is always great for any book you're writing. But these were people who said there were more than one that said this was their first bake shop mystery, and they loved it. So hearing that, does that change your opinion on reading a series in order or where to start in a series?
Ellie AlexanderHeck no, hell no, no. You still read at book one, darlings. You start at book one, you read your way through. No, I mean, I'm teasing, but I I'm always stunned when readers find the series somewhere farther in, right? Uh, and book 23 in particular feels like, wow, like that's deep, deep into the series. So I'm always honored and touched if someone enjoys it, especially not having all of the backstory that gets built over 23 books. I mean, it's a lot of story arc and growth and development for each character, like I was talking about at the beginning. I am always like, okay, how much do I need to put in to every book to make sure that someone who's brand new and picking up the bake shop mysteries for the first time at book 23 with the Pumpkin Vice Cafe is gonna be pretty caught up. They're gonna know who all these characters are, and also not bore the darlings who have been there since book one to death. And it is that's a really delicate balance. I've found some like devices over the years that I tend to fall on, which is that scene like I was talking about where Jules is gonna be baking in the morning and everyone's gonna come in. That's really a way for me to quickly introduce all of the characters. So you're not gonna get a lot, you're not gonna get his entire backstory, but uh Jules will say, like in her head, something about her lead barista Andy, who is a, you know, like coffee aficionado and a roaster or whatever, and like a sentence about how he dropped out of college and he's working as a barista full-time. Or so I'll find ways to introduce everybody without spending a ton of time, where somebody who's read all the way through would just be like, yeah, okay, get to the plot already. I know who these people are. Don't bore me.
Tech GuyYeah. Yeah, there I I imagine there definitely has to be a really tricky balance to include enough to get people caught up that that aren't uh reading from the beginning, which you said you should never do. But uh but also not not bore the the uh longtime fans who've read every other book in the series, like you said. Um you hinted several episodes ago, you hinted at the fact that longtime darlings out there, longtime readers of the series, would uh be excited to see somebody making an appearance in this book again. Uh and after I wrote this question, then I was like, well, actually, this might be a spoiler. I don't know. So it can you talk about this or is it is that gonna ruin it for people?
A Crossover Tease Without Spoilers
Ellie AlexanderOh no, I definitely cannot talk about this. It will ruin it for you, and I would hate that for you, darlings. But what I can talk about, and again, I think this is another opportunity that arises when you have a lot of shelf space with a series, is getting to um bring back characters, maybe who had an appearance at some point in the series, and then they've left, they're coming back, something along those lines, doing a little crossover. Um, so I have hinted at this too, but there is a crossover that's happening between a character from another series that I write who's making an appearance in Ashland. Uh, and I just love that for the longtime readers because I think it's so fun to like put in little Easter eggs that again, maybe somebody who picks up book 23, it won't be um quite as shocking, shall we say, to them as it might be to somebody who's followed along all the way.
Tech GuyRight. And darlings, let me tell you, I know who makes an appearance. And for those of you who've been around, who've been reading Ellie's books for a while, you're gonna freak out.
Ellie AlexanderI know, I can't wait. I feel like I feel like a kid, like, you know, the night before your birthday or something, because I cannot wait for readers to, I can't, darlings, just like send me your DMs and emails when you know, you'll know. That's all I'm saying.
Tech GuyThat's that's great. That's awesome.
Recipe Testing And Pumpkin Plot Twist
Tech GuyUh, because this is a bake shop mystery, there are recipes in it, right? How many of these did you that are in the book that that made the cut? And again, maybe talk uh first for the darlings out there who don't know the process, because you always come up with more recipes than actually make the cut for the book. Um, but of the ones that did make the cut, how many of them did you have to make more than once before you were like, that's good, that's going in a book?
Ellie AlexanderYeah, when I'm writing a first draft, I just write whatever is top of mind, whatever seems great, like Jules is making a cake, or you know, maybe it's like, oh, Jules is drinking a banana latte, whatever is fresh on my mind. Once I've finished a first draft and I come back and I start layering, editing subsequent drafts, then I'm really concentrating on like, what is she actually baking? Can I bake it myself? That's when I might start testing some recipes. Usually I also finalize the recipes first and then start doing some testing. Now, here's where there was a big plot twist. This book did not contain any pumpkin recipes. It's the pumpkin vice cafe, not a single pumpkin recipe. Why? Because the first draft that I wrote was set in late December, early January. And then we moved around the publishing schedule because this is the first book in the series that is going into trade paperback. And so the way that that works with the publishing schedule is that they needed some more time with it. And uh, the way everything lined up, then I pushed it forward and made it fall like the cusp of winter, which is a real thing. Having lived in Ashland, like snow can creep in. We had a snowy Halloween once, you know, like so um fall can be 70. In pure sun, or it can be like an icy little early snow, and snow is often then around Grizzly Peak and everything. So I like the idea of dancing between those. But on the next draft, I went through and I really then sunk into the idea of fall too. And that's the other nice thing of just writing a really uh outline-ish first draft because I don't have a lot of sensory details cemented in the story at that point. So it was easy to go back in and go, okay, no, we're gonna be in November. It's fall, she's making pumpkin. But long story short, the last two pumpkin recipes were sort of a scramble at the end because I had already like had some placeholders for other things in mind. And then I'm like, oh no, we need pumpkin in this book. Ring on the pumpkin.
Tech GuyAnd that's not the first time that's happened in this series. You where you've gotten to the end and you have an idea in mind for the type of recipes, but then one thing or another led to you having to change things up.
Ellie AlexanderYeah, no, it's happened quite often. So it's one of the things I talk about with coaching writing students is you also kind of have to stay flexible in your writing to be like, okay, like something could change on the publishing side of things. You could spark a new idea as you're halfway through a a story and go, oh no, I really want to follow that when I edit a book. So yeah.
Tech GuyYeah. Were there any recipes that failed right out of the right out of the gate?
Ellie AlexanderI didn't really have any fails this time. I feel pretty solid about them. I did have um originally a pumpkin latte, which is, you know, it's everywhere now, so it's not new. But um, no, it's a thing. It's it's got its own season. Uh I had a pumpkin spice latte that Jules was gonna make with real pumpkin puree, because you know this, but I don't know if the darlings know this. I'm not a fan of any sort of like artificial flavoring. No, you can't do it.
Tech GuyNo, no, won't even go near it.
Ellie AlexanderWon't go near it. That's why in the books we Jules talks so much about housemade syrups, which is a point of contention with in coffee edits. We won't go there. But I tried this whisking some pumpkin puree and a little maple syrup and some spices. It was real bad. It was just so like thick and dense. Like, I'm sure there's a way to do it, but my version was not working. So I just scrapped that and went with something else completely different.
Tech GuyWell, and that that's another thing that happens all the time with this series, right? Uh, I know it happens because I eat a lot of this stuff. And I think whether you want to or not, yeah. I'm one of the taste testers, the official taste tester. And so I, you know, it happens. And sometimes you something that you're planning doesn't uh turn out the way that you thought it would, and you gotta go with plan B.
Ellie AlexanderYeah, and no one wants like pumpkin sludge at the bottom of your coffee. Yeah.
Tech GuyAlthough we have had drinks like that from coffee shops, like actual, you know, and it's never a pleasant experience. So yeah, probably a good, probably a good decision to uh to do that. Are you sure you don't want to give people a hint on who it's going to be?
Ellie AlexanderNo, oh my gosh, no.
Tech GuySorry, darlings. I thought I could trick her into uh giving you a hint, but you're just gonna have to wait till September 29th. September 29th. All right. Anything else that you want people to know about the Pumpkin Vice Cafe?
Ellie AlexanderIt's
Gratitude Wrap And Final Reminders
Ellie Alexanderjust been such a delight to write this series and I think about how many connections I have personally made because of these books. Friendships, businesses. Ashland Mystery Fest was born because of this series. Like, I never in my wildest dreams, when I wrote book one, would imagine ever that I would have 23 books, let alone all of the ripples and other things that have come because of this fictional world. So I'm super grateful.
Tech GuyAnd you get to keep visiting Ashland now that we no longer live there every time you wrote a new book. Yeah. Yeah. Love it. All right. So once again, book 23 in the Bait Shop Mystery series, the Pumpkin Vice Cafe is available for pre-order now. And be sure to, if you are going to pre-order, which would be amazing if you did, be sure to use the link in the show notes uh so that you can enter into the giveaway that the publisher is running for a whole bunch of cool Bake Shop Mystery stuff.
Ellie AlexanderYeah.
Tech GuyWith that, send us in your questions if you want to know anything more about the book. Ellie's not gonna give up the the new visitor to Towns or the Returning Face. So just uh maybe anything else besides that, you might you might actually get an answer. But uh uh with that, I'm gonna say until next time.
Ellie AlexanderTill next time.
