Cover to Cover--An Interview With Indie Author Eunice Loecher--By Linda Kozar

Fred didn'’t show for the fiesta lunch special on Wednesday at the Arbor Vale Café. Why not? He’d called to say he had something to tell her. So Zita Stillman drops by his house to hear him out. Fred had been such a good friend to her late husband. But Fred lies, lifeless, by the wood pile.

So begins Zita’s first murder investigation with her lifelong sidekick Zinnia Blossom Winwood and the distraction of the good-looking Max Knight, successful condo builder. Attacked by a clown, run off the road, and warned off by the police, Zita will not let Fred’s murderer get off scott free. But another mystery, the facts surrounding Zita’s parentage and birth also may come to light.

A Widow’s Might is the first of the (Arbor Vale Mystery) Series. Followed by Woman at the Well, (Book Two-now also available), written and coming soon, The Subtle Serpent, (Book Three), The Root of All Evil, (Book Four), and Sin Lieth at the Door, (Book Five).

Zita Stillman’s New Year’s Eve celebration includes fireworks-- and a new murder. When her best friend, Zinnia Blossom Winwood becomes a suspect in the investigation, Zita’s normally trouble-free life develops overwhelming complications. Her widowed niece Kimmy Camden and baby Kyla have come to live with her and they have opened their home to bed-and-breakfast guests. Their first visitor arrives, adding to the chaos. And for the first time, Zita is beginning to unravel the truth about her parentage. As Zita tries to juggle the responsibilities of her woodcraft business and being drawn further into solving the murder, a new handsome stranger arrives in town. Will he compete with Max Knight for Zita'’s attention?

A Few Words With The Author...

1. Tell us what inspired you to write these books and how long it took to write them.

I write what I enjoy reading, cozy mysteries. The small town where I live has become a very quirky character in my stories. Where else do they celebrate roast beef and parade the roasts down main street. Did I mention the people wear cow costumes. Our history also includes gangsters and lumberjacks. Each book takes me about a year to complete. First the writing then the editing. I now use a professional editor and formatter.

2. Did you decide from the start to go the indie route or did you try traditional as well?

I did try traditional publishing. Each time I came close to a contract the publisher would either drop their mystery line or go our of business. I have an amazing writer friend, Lyn Cote, who has been my mentor for several years. She encouraged me to use e-publishing. I'm excited by this new opportunity and pleased with the product. In traditional publishing the books are off the shelves in a month or two. In e-publishing they can remain forever as e-books or publish on demand. So many wonderful books are now available on my Kindle that conventional publishers have ignored.

3. How did you come up with your titles?

The first book introduces, Zita, a widow who handles life with inner strength. I thought about the Widow's Mite in the Bible and changed the spelling. Soon I was choosing all my titles based stories or verses in the Bible. 

4. What's next for you? Writing more novels or nonfiction books?

I've finished five books in this series. The others are in various stages of editing and I writing number six. I plan to continue writing stories with Zita and her friend Zinnia as long as they find interesting predicaments to get themselves into. I'm also working on compiling about fifty essays and devotionals that I've written over the years to e-publish. Most of them have been previously published on various on-line sites.

5. Where can readers find your books?

Currently, the first two books are available on Amazon for Kindle and through Barns and Noble's for Nook. They will be available in paperback through Amazon within the next month.

Eunice Loecher enjoys living in a small Wisconsin north woods town, south of Lake Superior. Outside her window stands a thick forest and small spring fed blue lakes. Deer, bear, sand cranes, eagles and wolves abound. This setting inspired her Arbor Vale mystery series, featuring the two “Z’s”  Zita Stillman, amateur sleuth, and her sidekick the flamboyant Zinnia Blossom Winwood. 

Writing for over twenty years, Eunice was a finalist in the prestigious Wisconsin Regional Writers Award, The Jade Ring 2003. Eunice also had stories included in three editions of the “God Allows U-Turns” series, the Christian version of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Then Eunice switched from non-fiction to fiction and began by writing two romantic suspense novels. She now writes cozy mystery as her true calling.