Jenn McKinlay: Today's guest is the indefatigable Ellen Byron. Seriously, I just saw her in her role as Toastmaster at Left Coast Crime and, truly, she was a in constant motion and hilariously funny as always! Lucky for us, Ellen has a book coming out on March 28th and she's here to tell us all about it.
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I’d never thought about this before. I’m a dog lover, so I have dogs in all my series. I even have a cat and bird in my Catering Hall Mysteries, which I write under the pen name “Maria DiRico.” But an animal who represents my series thematically and even visually? That never occurred to me. And I began thinking about it.
First, I substituted the term “series mascot” for “spirit animal,” out of respect for cultures where the latter has great meaning. Then I thought about the role of a series mascot.
Visually and emotionally, a mascot should evoke the flavor of your series. While our late basset hound Lucy graces all the covers of my Cajun Country Mysteries, the series mascot is an alligator, which Louisianians often joke is the true state “bird,” as opposed to the brown pelican (a runner-up for series mascot). There’s something about a gator’s sly, crafty ways and general resilience that just felt right for the series.
A real-life incident inspired my choice of peacock as the Vintage Cookbook Mysteries mascot. While lodging in the Carrollton neighborhood of New Orleans during a visit, I heard a strange shriek coming from outside. I went to check it out and saw a peacock strolling down the street. The series’ main setting is Bon Vee, a stunning19th century mansion in the city’s Garden District. Peacocks are famed for being the Mean Girls – and Guys – of the bird world. The notion of these magnificent birds with attitude parading around a Garden District mansion appealed to me and a series mascot was born. Two, actually: Gumbo and Jambalaya. See if you can spot where the artist behind my Vintage Cookbook Mysteries placed the peacock on the cover of Wined and Died in New Orleans.
I’ve yet to come up with a mascot for my Catering Hall Mysteries. I jokingly toyed with making that iconic New Yorker, the Pizza Rat, but decided visuals of the poor guy – who never did get to eat that slice of pizza – might be a bit off-putting. But I’ve translated my other series’ mascots into jewelry I wear to signings and conferences, leading to a fun collection of alligator and peacock necklaces and brooches.
My series’ mascots do more than provide fun branding opportunities. The innate intelligence and attitude of these representatives from the animal and aviary kingdom inspire me as a writer.
And maybe I’m wrong about Pizza Rat. His infamous battle to claim a slice of pizza twice his size showed him to be as determined and strong-willed as series protagonist Mia Carina.
Plus, I just found a really cute Pizza Rat enamel pin.
Pizza Rat New York Brown Rat Two Inch Enamel Pin - Etsy
Readers, do you agree these are good mascot choices for my series? What animal do you think would make a great mascot for a series you read?
Leave a comment and be entered in a drawing for a signed
copy of HERE COMES THE BODY! The first in the Catering hall mysteries.
SYNOPSIS for FOUR PARTIES AND A FUNERAL:
Agatha Award-winning author Maria DiRico returns with the fourth book in the Catering Hall Mystery Series, starring Mia Carina who is coming to grips with being back in Astoria, Queens, and running her Italian-American family’s catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor but a TV casting call is about to put murder in the spotlight . . .
The June events schedule at Belle View is busting out all over—proms, graduations, and of course, weddings. There are unexpected bookings too, including a casting call for the pilot of Dons of Ditmars Boulevard. But soon, Mia’s fears about the cheesy reality show are confirmed . . .
Belle View quickly becomes the site of a sea of wanna-be goombahs and phony girlfriends, and some of Mia’s friends insist on getting in on the action. The production company owner and his executive producer ex-wife—who’s also very minor British royalty—have assembled a motley crew that does as much infighting and backstabbing as the on-screen “talent.” Even so, it’s a shock when a dead body is found in the pool house of a local mansion rented by the show . . .
Murder might boost the ratings. But Mia intends to make sure the killer gets jail time, not airtime. . .
BIO: Ellen’s Cajun Country Mysteries have won two Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and multiple Lefty Awards for Best Humorous Mystery. Bayou Book Thief is the first book in her new Vintage Cookbook Mysteries. She also writes the Catering Hall Mystery series under the name Maria DiRico.
Ellen is an award-winning playwright, and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly Odd Parents. She has written over two hundred articles for national magazines but considers her most impressive credit working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. She serves on the national board for Mystery Writers of America, and will be the 2023 Left Coast Crime Toastmaster. Visit her at Cozy Mysteries | Ellen Byron | Author
