JENN McKINLAY: Can you feel it in the air?
Autumn is coming (please, God, it's like 100,000 degrees in AZ)
and with it, my favorite reads arrive most of which will include
some sort otherworldliness like today's guest's new series - A
Kitchen Witch! Here to tell us more is the delightful Lynn Cahoon.
LYNN CAHOON: Magic.
It’s my go to reading subject. I totally fell in love and bought into the idea of magic as a kid (Phantom Tollbooth – Wrinkle In Time, and as I got older, The Lord of the Rings.) I love magic on television and movies (Bewitched, Charmed, The Magicians, The Librarians.) As I’ve grown, I’ve continued to seek out magical realism in all content forms like Harry Potter, Harry Dresden, and Practical Magic.) It’s my go to, feel good story.
Magic is also my favorite subject to write.
When I was offered a chance to bring Magic Springs, Idaho to life with my local Kitchen Witch, Mia Malone, I jumped at the chance. Why? Now that’s another subject.
I think I liked the ability to have a secret power, like a superhero without the cape or tights. Witches have a history in our real world. The Salem Witch trials being our historical reference on the question of how we deal with differences. The answer is not well.
Going even farther back, healers were suspected of witchcraft by using plants and potions to care for patients’ bumps and bruises. I’m sure for some people, blood letting was a healing proposition, but for most of the patients, it just made them weaker. By tapping into this rich history, being a kitchen witch, allows my main character, Mia, to help heal others as well as create amazing food to sooth the soul.
In story, magic is a way for crisis to be averted. Or, if things go completely out of hand, you can use the Christmas wish theme (Family Man, It’s a Wonderful Life) to make things go back to normal for everyone but your main character. He or she has learned their lesson and will be a better person for it.
It’s something I wish we had in real life. Like the easy button from the commercial. A way to take the bad and turn it into something good. And with the world events that are occurring recently, that’s a button I wish I’d had.
But since I don’t own an easy button, I’ll write my Kitchen Witch mysteries. The magic in the books isn’t used to solve the mystery. That would be a short book. All it would take was a session with the Ouija board and ask the question, “Hey, dead guy? Who killed you?” The board answers and case closed.
In my worlds, using magic for personal gain is a no no. The goddess doesn’t like it when you try to invoke the easy button. Instead, magic for Mia and her grandmother is a way to support the world and their community. Magic is part of their being. Mia’s love of cooking and her skill as a chef and caterer can be considered magic as well.
Even in the real world. So what’s your favorite magical book?
Lynn
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| Pre-Order Now |
CHILI CAULDRON CURSE
Releases August 25, 2020
Chili Cauldron Curse
releases August 25th, 2020
New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon introduces a new heroine with her own special brand of culinary magic in this novella to introduce her Kitchen Witch series.
When Mia Malone’s grandmother asks her to take a week away from her restaurant job and come to Magic Springs, Idaho, she’s happy to oblige. Like Mia, Grans has witchcraft running through her veins, and life with her is never boring. Plus, the cause is a good one—helping Grans get the local food bank up and running again. But there’s an unappetizing surprise in store. While Mia is knee-deep in boxes of donated produce, she encounters the body of Dorian Alexander.
Dorian was a warlock, leader of the local coven. He was also her Grans’ new beau. There’s no potion that’ll make this trouble disappear. But if Mia wants to keep her Grans—now a prime suspect—from serving a spell in prison, she’ll have to unearth the real killer fast. . . .
When Mia Malone’s grandmother asks her to take a week away from her restaurant job and come to Magic Springs, Idaho, she’s happy to oblige. Like Mia, Grans has witchcraft running through her veins, and life with her is never boring. Plus, the cause is a good one—helping Grans get the local food bank up and running again. But there’s an unappetizing surprise in store. While Mia is knee-deep in boxes of donated produce, she encounters the body of Dorian Alexander.
Dorian was a warlock, leader of the local coven. He was also her Grans’ new beau. There’s no potion that’ll make this trouble disappear. But if Mia wants to keep her Grans—now a prime suspect—from serving a spell in prison, she’ll have to unearth the real killer fast. . . .
NYTand USA Today bestsellingauthor, Lynn Cahoon, writes the Tourist Trap, Cat Latimer and Farm-to-Fork mystery series. The Kitchen Witch cozy mystery series will release in 2020. No matter where the mystery is set, readers can expect a fun ride Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com
