S. 8, Ep. 18: Interview with Crime Writer Tessa Lunney

The Crime Cafe

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Tessa Lunney. Check out our discussion about her Kiki Button series set in 1920s Paris, and experiencing the joys of bohemian living, if only vicariously. :) 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. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): 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 an affiliate link on this blog. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi (00:54): Hi everyone. Today it's my pleasure to have with me an author who writes about a bohemian woman with a mission in Paris during the 1920s. Her protagonist is Kiki Button and her latest novel is Autumn Leaves. Along with her fiction, she writes poetry and reviews. I'm pleased to introduce Tessa Lunney here today. Hi, Tessa. Thanks for being with us today. Tessa (01:22): Hi, Debbi. It's a pleasure. Debbi (01:23): Wonderful to have you on. Thank you for being here. And I loved your book, by the way. I still have to review it. I feel real bad about that, but it was a very enjoyable book. Tell us about Kiki Button and your series. Tessa (01:41): Yeah, sure. So Kiki Button, the book is set in the early 1920s in Paris. So the first book was April in Paris, 1921, and the second book is Autumn Leaves, 1922. Kiki Button is an Australian expat. She was a nurse in the Great War but doesn't want to live in Australia anymore. She wants a life of greater freedom, adventure and fun really. So she runs away back to Paris, which she had come to know during the war. In Paris, she meets up with the friends that she'd made during that time. Friends from Australia such as Maisie, who was another nurse, as well as friends from the British Army such as Bertie. When she's in Paris, she works as a gossip columnist for a London magazine reporting on all the fabulous celebrity and aristocratic goss that was going on in Paris at the time. But secretly, she's also a very reluctant but very capable spy. (02:46): She had been recruited during the war by her archnemesis, the nefarious head surgeon, Dr. Fox. And Dr. Fox finds her again after the war. He's still working for the British government and he's going to make sure that Kiki works for him. So that's who Kiki is. She's a very lively vibrant person who is also quite straightforward about the problems that she carries with her from the war and from what she did and how that affects her day-to-day life. She's enormous fun to write and sometimes I feel that she just writes herself. I can hear her speaking in my head. Debbi (03:30): That's wonderful. Tessa (03:33): Especially her clothes.