Featured Author: C. L. Bauer

Welcome Today's Featured 

C.L. Bauer!!

The Lily List Mysteries

The Poppy Drop introduces us to the florist Lily Schmidt. Her normal world is invades by chaos in the forms of an errant shipment of drugs and a very handsome DEA agent.

 

The Hibiscus Heist builds the relationship of Lily and Dev. Hopefully, by the end of the novel they figure it out. Lily’s car is used in a drug run (true story actually happened to me) placing her in danger. We also meet Dev’s friends who will become Lily’s as well in the future.

The Tulip Terror is a romantic book, mostly set in Paris, France. Dev takes Lily on an amazing trip. He just has a little work to do. Of course he does! Soon, they are embroiled in a shooting on the streets, and Lily meets a super agent who will become one of her best friends.

The Sweet Pea Secret features our little florist in a new environment. She also runs into her old boyfriend, something she never wanted to do. Dev’s past becomes his present, placing the woman he loves in danger, again.

As far as the future for The Lily List Mysteries, I’m hoping to have several more adventures for Lily including a discovery in her very own yard. I’m also planning novellas featuring some of the more popular characters of the books including Dev’s brother, a super agent, Gretchen the coordinator, an ex-Navy SEAL, and Dev’s best friend who is a priest.

About C.L. Bauer:

C. L. Bauer resides in her hometown of Kanas City, home to some of the best barbecue, restaurants, theaters, and football (when the Chiefs are having a good year) in the country. In 2018, she returned to writing with the publishing of her first novel The Poppy Drop, a Lily List Mystery. She blended humor with wedding flowers (her family has owned the same flower business since before World War II) to create a world for her character, Lily. When you are involved in the wedding industry there are plenty of stories and characters. It’s easy to write a novel based on events that have actually happened and people you’ve enjoyed meeting over the years.

C. L. Bauer loves meeting her readers and listening to what they think will happen next and their pleas to not kill a certain character they love. When she’s not writing or designing wedding flowers, she keeps in touch with her family and friends, enjoys a good cup of coffee and going out to breakfast, traveling, binging on English murder mysteries, and anything Disney. She’s particularly fond of Eeyore, Chip and Dale (the furry ones with hips) and always cries when she sees the castle.

C. L. Bauer can be reached on social media everywhere including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Her website is http://www.clbauer.com, and you can email her at clbauerkc@gmail.com

 Interview with C. L. Bauer:

1. Can you tell us a little about your books?

My books are in the cozy realm of mysteries/romance with a little comedy blended in. The Lily List Mystery series features a Kansas City, Missouri florist, Lily Schmidt, who has never met a post-it note she hasn’t liked. She’s extremely organized and does her job well as a result. Her normal life is invaded by an assortment of mishaps and characters including DEA agent Devlin Pierce. We first meet Lily when a drug shipment is sent to her by mistake, hidden in her box of flowers. Throughout all of the novels in the series, I feature wedding and flower stories that are based on true events our family’s business has experienced.

2. What inspires you to write?

My inspiration to write has always been a form of entertainment. Whether I was producing a sports article, an advertisement, or now a novel, I want to tell an interesting and entertaining story. I enjoy opening new worlds and new characters to readers of all kinds. I’m also inspired by people I meet along the way who are larger than life, or even an event that is so small that no one notices it. I do, and that makes me what to write down that note, do that outline, imagine those characters, and write that book!

3.  How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

Years ago I wrote a very large novel. I recently found it and will soon begin to look at it again, eventually. But currently, I have four books in The Lily List Mystery Series with Corrugated Sky Publishing. I also have two other mystery novels in editing, and I have written a non-fiction book about my father’s adventures in World War II. I’ve written eight with four published. My favorite, well that depends on how I feel that day! I love the first in the series, The Poppy Drop, because it was my first! But in that series, The Tulip Terror, is probably my overall favorite. Lily and Dev establish a relationship, and they go to one of my favorite places in the world, Paris, France. It’s wonderful to visit there, even if it just on the pages of a novel! My father’s book is probably the most emotional for all that he went through.

4. How do you come up with your characters names?

 I’ve never had a hard time coming up with characters or their names. I usually begin with a main character and then I begin to fill in with the backstory. I have a nationality and a look in mind. Then I just start looking for just the right sounding name. But I have had to ask my family for assistance a few times. I have written a couple of characters and changed their name before I sent the novel into the publisher. I always want my characters relatable. I want their names to be remembered, and I want you to wonder what they’d be like at a restaurant or bar.

5.  Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?

Right now, I have quite a bit of time to write. I own my family’s business, wedding and event flowers, but because of the virus, there is no work. I’ve worked at home for years so usually I plan my day in blocks of time for emails, social media, writing, researching, and editing. There are those days when the words don’t come out so freely. I do allow a break now and then, but if I’m on a roll then I just go with it. I do better in the afternoon, especially on a rainy or snowy day. Yes, the cup of hot tea or coffee is in my hand.

6.  Do you have a favorite spot to write?

Currently, my favorite places to write are in my living room, and as the weather gets better, on my front porch. It seems as though my office is used for more “business” oriented writing. I began my newest novel, The Sweet Pea Secret, on the top deck of a friend’s home in Florida, overlooking Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. That view was very inspirational.

7. If you had a superpower, what would it be?

I’d love to be able to be at any location in a moment’s notice. Most of my relatives live out-of-town and it would be wonderful to visit at any time. I have a multitude of nieces, and it would be great to pop in for lunch or shopping and be back at home to finish a project. That superpower would make me a happier person. Right now, my only superpower is the ability to remember quite a lot all at the same time.

8. What  writing projects are you currently working on?

I’m currently outlining four more books for special characters from The Lily List Mystery Series, and four more novels involving Lily and her adventures. I’m also working on a new series. If I get bored with one, I just go visit the other characters! They lead such interesting lives, and the virus doesn’t affect them in any way. They still go to restaurants and shop whenever they want to…what a life!