Interview with Crime Writer Kathleen Kaska – S. 9, Ep. 11

This episode of the Crime Cafe features my interview with crime writer Kathleen Kaska. Check out how she got the inspiration to write the Sydney Lockhart mysteries. It all started with the thing at the hotel ... but I can't tell you what that is. No spoilers! :) Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. We also have a shop now. Check it out! Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi: But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included affiliate links on this blog. Download a copy of the transcript here. Debbi: Hi, everyone. My guest today is originally from Austin, Texas, a very cool town, by the way, especially when the Austin Film Festival is in town. God, that is a great film festival, I have to say for screenwriters particularly. However, having said that, I'm with the author for this week who lives in Washington state now, which is also a really cool place, I have to say. She is the author of the Sydney Lockhart Mysteries, as well as the Kate Caraway Animal Rights Mysteries and other books, which include three trivia books. I believe it's Sherlock Holmes, Hitchcock and Agatha Christie trivia. Wow, that's interesting. My guest today is Kathleen Kaska. Hi, Kathy. How are you doing today? Do you go by Kathy or Kathleen? Kathleen: Kathleen. Debbi: Kathleen, definitely Kathleen there. Okay, I should have asked you ahead of time. I forgot . Kathleen: That's okay. Debbi: Tell us about Sydney Lockhart. I read Murder at the Driskill and just loved it, so tell me what inspired you to write that series. Kathleen: Thank you. Well, Sydney Lockhart, my series is set in the early 1950s, and Sydney Lockhart is a young woman trying to make it as a private detective in a man's world. And so you can imagine how hard it was in the 1950s to take on a career that was just unheard of for women. So that's what the series is about, and each book takes place in a different historic hotel, and these are real hotels, and they're still in operation today. So, that's kind of how I decided to structure this series. Debbi: Very interesting. So you picked hotels every time? Kathleen: Yes. Debbi: Fascinating. Here I thought maybe you picked the Driskill because of the film festival. Do you have a fondness for the Driskill in any particular way? Kathleen: Well, yes. The Driskill is in downtown Austin. It's not too far from the Capitol. It's right in the center of the city. And when I lived in Austin, we lived right across the street from the Capitol. So we would often just wander down to the Driskill bar and have a drink and have dinner. It was a great meeting place to meet friends, so I spent a lot of time there just hanging out.