Sally Solari's guest appearances

Sally Solari

The Best in Mystery, Romance and Historicals

Craig Johnson

Mark Pryor

Hugo Marston

Joanna Shupe

Susan C.

Lee Goldberg

Anne Hillerman

Steve Hockensmith

John Bishop

Anna Lee

Lily Graham

Mark Ellis

Nadia Hashimi

Lindsey Kelk

Gay Hendricks

OwlTail

Leslie Karst

Leslie Karst’sSally Solari foodie mystery series are spiced just right to tempt  readers back for second helpings, with razorsharp plotting, a vibrant Santa Cruz setting, and the bonus of some greatrecipes!Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Leslie talks about Murder from Scratch, the fourth book in what she calls her “snarky cozies.”Sixthings you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:Why Leslie is passionate about  Santa CruzWhat the law taught her about mystery writingHer culinary obsessionsHer not-so-secret song-writing lifeDividing time between Hawaii and CaliforniaWhy she loves Chicks On A CaseWhere to find Leslie Karst: Website: http://lesliekarstauthor.comFacebook:  https://www.facebook.com/lesliekarstauthor/ Twitter:   @ljkarst Whatfollows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word forword but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.Jenny: Hellothere, Leslie, and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us.Leslie: Hi,Jenny. It's so great to be talking from halfway around the world, fromCalifornia to New Zealand, it's really fabulous.Jenny: That'sright. We're joined by the Pacific Ocean.Leslie: Exactly.Leslie Karst - Combing two passions - writing and food - in the Sally Solari mysteriesJenny: Look, wasthere a Once Upon A Time moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction asdistinct from other things you might have been writing? And if so, was there acatalyst for it?Leslie: You know,I've always been fascinated by words and language, since I was a little kid,but I never actively planned to be a writer. But somehow I ended up writing formost of my life as a college student. I was a literature major, so I wrote alot of papers about literary criticism. And then after I graduated, I dabbledin poetry.And in my angst ridden 20's, I moved over to writing songs for a couple of bands. I had a new wave band in the 80's  and then later in the 1990's, I had a country rock band called Electric Range that I formed with my sister.A change of paceAnd then after that, I went on to law school and I became a lawyer. And I spent 20 years writing research, memory memos and appellate briefs. So there it was. At the time I was ready to retire as a lawyer, I realized writing must be in my blood. So I said, I'm going to have to continue writing. But at that point, I decided I wanted to do something new. And that's why I decided to go to fiction. Completely different from legal briefs, certainly.Jenny: So you'venow written four books, a Sally Solaris mystery series that's a culinaryseries, set in a restaurant and features a lot of food. I just wondered twoquestions, really. Why did you choose mysteries as your genre and how did youcome upon the culinary theme for them?Obsessed with taste and textureLeslie: Well, asI said, when I decided to switch to fiction, I settled on mysteries, partlybecause I'd read them a lot is that when I was younger. But I also  realized that crafting the twists and turnsof a murder mystery, is not that different from the detail-oriented work thatone employs when you're drafting a legal brief. And it turns out I was rightabout that.So that's why I wentto the mysteries. Plus, come on, they're fun. Everybody likes the  food aspect. You know, I've been obsessedwith taste and the texture and the presentation of food ever since I was a kid.And as a result, I ended up going to culinary arts school while I worked as a lawyerand I got a degree in that. And guess which I liked better?Italian style in Santa CruzAnd so when I decided to try my hand at writing a mysterynovel, it seemed like a no-brainer that it had to involve food and cooking. Ijust had to. I was into food. Mysteries are popular. So I thought, OK, I cancombine these two and have a really a good time.Jenny: Yeah,that's right. Now,

Leslie Karst’s Sally Solari foodie mystery series are spiced just right to tempt  readers back for second helpings, with razor sharp plotting, a vibrant Santa Cruz setting, and the bonus of some great recipes! Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Leslie talks about Murder from Scratch, the fourth book in what she calls her “snarky cozies.” Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: Why Leslie is passionate about Santa CruzWhat the law taught her about mystery writingHer culinary obsessionsHer not-so-secret song-writing lifeDividing time between Hawaii and CaliforniaWhy she loves Chicks On A Case Where to find Leslie Karst: Website: <a href="http://lesliekarstauthor.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://lesliekarstauthor.com</a> Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lesliekarstauthor/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/lesliekarstauthor/</a> Twitter: @ljkarst What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions. Jenny: Hello there, Leslie, and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us. Leslie: Hi, Jenny. It's so great to be talking from halfway around the world, from California to New Zealand, it's really fabulous. Jenny: That's right. We're joined by the Pacific Ocean. Leslie: Exactly. Leslie Karst - Combing two passions - writing and food - in the Sally Solari mysteries Jenny: Look, was there a Once Upon A Time moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction as distinct from other things you might have been writing? And if so, was there a catalyst for it? Leslie: You know, I've always been fascinated by words and language, since I was a little kid, but I never actively planned to be a writer. But somehow I ended up writing for most of my life as a college student. I was a literature major, so I wrote a lot of papers about literary criticism. And then after I graduated, I dabbled in poetry. And in my angst ridden 20's, I moved over to writing songs for a couple of bands. I had a new wave band in the 80's and then later in the 1990's, I had a country rock band called Electric Range that I formed with my sister. A change of pace And then after that, I went on to law school and I became a lawyer. And I spent 20 years writing research, memory memos and appellate briefs. So there it was. At the time I was ready to retire as a lawyer, I realized writing must be in my blood. So I said, I'm going to have to continue writing. But at that point, I decided I wanted to do something new. And that's why I decided to go to fiction. Completely different from legal briefs, certainly. Jenny: So you've now written four books, a Sally Solaris mystery series that's a culinary series, set in a restaurant and features a lot of food. I just wondered two questions, really. Why did you choose mysteries as your genre and how did you come upon the culinary theme for them? Obsessed with taste and texture Leslie: Well, as I said, when I decided to switch to fiction, I settled on mysteries, partly because I'd read them a lot is that when I was younger. But I also  realized that crafting the twists and turns of a murder mystery, is not that different from the detail-oriented work that one employs when you're drafting a legal brief. And it turns out I was right about that. So that's why I went to the mysteries. Plus, come on, they're fun. Everybody likes the  food aspect. You know, I've been obsessed with taste and the texture and the presentation of food ever since I was a kid. And as a result, I ended up going to culinary arts school while I worked as a lawyer and I got a degree in that. And guess which I liked better? Italian style in Santa Cruz And so when I decided to try my hand at writing a mystery novel, it seemed like a no-brainer that it had to involve food and cooking. I just had to. I was into food. Mysteries are popular. So I thought, OK, I can combine these two and have a really a good time. Jenny: Yeah, that's right. Now,

Leslie Karst – Sally Solari culinary mysteries