Tart Words: Writers read. Readers bake. Bakers write.
Welcome! I'm Linda Gordon Hengerer, author of the Beach Tea Shop cozy mystery series, co-editor of the Happy Homicides cozy mystery anthology series, and baker of treats.If you get joy from reading, writing, or baking, join me to learn new skills to take your writing and/or baking to a different level. My happy place is filled with baking supplies, loaded bookshelves, and endless imagination - does this sound like yours, too? Maybe you've thought about writing a book someday, and decided someday was now - if you only knew where to start. You enjoy baking, but not making time-consuming treats that are gobbled up in less time than it took to measure the flour. You're the dictionary picture for "voracious reader," and you enjoy listening to your favorite authors and finding out the inspiration behind their stories. Tart Words is a podcast for all of those interests. I'm inviting some of my author friends to talk about writing, their books, and add a baker's dozen of getting-to-know-you questions in the Show Notes. I talk about writing and baking, and you'll find out more about your favorite author or find a new author to follow. Tart adj 1: agreeably sharp or acid to the taste; noun 1: an open pastry case containing a filling. Our words may occasionally be sharp or salty but are most often sweet. An open pastry case containing a filling suggests endless possibilities, and I hope the Tart Words podcast fills you full of joy and possibility.
Episodes
In this episode, Linda Hengerer talks with Tracee de Hahn.
Tracee de Hahn is the author of classic tales of intrigue and suspense published by Minotaur Books. Swiss Vendetta was inspired by her years in Switzerland. A Well-Timed Murder probed the heart of the Swiss watch industry. She is National Membership Liaison for Sisters in Crime.
Find her at TraceedeHahn.com to sign up for her newsletter and follow her on social media.
Get to...
In this episode, Linda Hengerer talks with Susie Black.
Born in the Big Apple, Susie Black calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries.
She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit ...
In this episode, Linda Hengerer is talking with Connie Berry. Connie Berry is the author of the Kate Hamilton Mysteries, set in the UK and featuring an American antiques dealer with a gift for solving crimes. Like her protagonist, Connie was raised by antiques dealers who instilled in her a passion for history, fine art, and travel. During college she studied at the University of Freiburg in Germany and St. Clare's College, Oxf...
In this episode, Linda Hengerer talks with Emilya Naymark.
Emilya Naymark’s debut novel is “Hide In Place” from Crooked Lane Books. Her short stories appear in the Harper Collins anthology A Stranger Comes to Town, Secrets in the Water, After Midnight: Tales from the Graveyard Shift, River River Journal, Snowbound: Best New England Crime Stories 2017, and 1+30: THE BEST OF MYSTORY.
She has a degree in fine art, and her artworks...
In this episode, Linda Hengerer talks with Shawn Reilly Simmons about culinary cozy mysteries, Malice Domestic and 2021's More Than Malice, and writing.
Shawn Reilly Simmons is the Agatha and Anthony Award-winning author and editor of The Red Carpet Catering Mysteries and of twenty short stories appearing in various anthologies. She serves on the Board of Malice Domestic, is an editor at Level Best Books and a member of Sisters...
In this episode of Tart Words, Linda Hengerer talks with Tara Lush.
Tara Lush is a Rita Award finalist, an Amtrak writing fellow, and a George C. Polk Award-winning journalist. For the past decade, she's been a reporter with the Associated Press, covering crime, alligators, natural disasters, and politics. She also writes contemporary romance set in tropical locations. A fan of vintage pulp-fiction book covers, Sinatra-era jazz...
In this episode, Linda Hengerer talks with Vincent H. O'Neil. Vincent H. O’Neil is the Malice Award-winning author of the Exile murder mysteries from St. Martin’s Press and the military science fiction Sim War series (written as Henry V. O’Neil) from HarperCollins. He has also authored several short stories in Mystery Tribune, Bourbon Penn, Mystery Weekly, Hypnos, and Lovecraftiana magazines.
Visit him at www.vincenthoneil.com f...
In this episode, Linda Hengerer talks with Diane A.S. Stuckart. Diane A.S. Stuckart began her writing career in the 1990s as the critically acclaimed author of historical romance under the names Alexa Smart and Anna Gerard. She later switched to the mystery genre and is the NYT bestselling author of the Black Cat Bookshop Mysteries (written as Ali Brandon) and the award-winning Leonardo da Vinci historical mysteries. Her Tarot Cat...
In this episode, Linda Hengerer talks with Mia P. Manansala about her debut novel Arsenic and Adobo, Filipino cooking - lumpia! - and how the pandemic affected her routine.
Mia P. Manansala (she/her) is a writer and certified book coach from Chicago who loves books, baking, and bad-ass women. She uses humor (and murder) to explore aspects of the Filipino diaspora, queerness, and her millennial love for pop culture. Her debut novel, ...
Creamy, buttery, garlicky - just what you want when sweet won't cut it but a savory snack will.
In this episode of Tart Words, Suzanne Fox and Linda Hengerer are discussing Mary Stewart’s book Airs Above the Ground and how she uses unusual settings, creates vivid animal characters, and shows relationship dynamics.
It was first published in 1965 by Hodder & Stoughton and is now available in ebook editions.
Description from Amazon:
Vanessa March's husband Lewis is meant to be on a business trip in Stockholm. So why do...
Cream Cheese & Olives is a family favorite, and easy to make; you'll be snacking in no time! Out of crackers? Use celery as a boat for the cream cheese and olives.
Linda Hengerer talks with Carrie Stuart Parks, an award-winning, internationally known forensic artist. She travels across the US and Canada teaching courses in forensic art to law enforcement professionals including the FBI, Secret Service, and RCMP, and is the largest instructor of forensic art in the world. Her best-selling novels in the mystery/suspense/thriller genre have garnered numerous awards including several Carols and ...
In this episode of Tart Words, Suzanne Fox and Linda Hengerer are discussing Mary Stewart’s book The Moon-Spinners how she uses setting, shows family love and loyalties, and how her characters answer a call to adventure.
It was first published in 1962 by Hodder & Stoughton and is now available in ebook editions.
Takeaways for writers:
In The Moon-Spinners, Nicola Ferris is a young English woman working at the embassy in Athens....
Linda is talking with Suzanne Fox. Writing as Suzanne Scott, she is the author of One Hot Summer. Originally published in 1997, Harlequin re-released it as an ebook.
Suzanne Fox writes fiction and nonfiction, reviews books for Publishers Weekly, edits the online journal Society 19, and works with authors to shape, publish, and market their work. Her handmade jewelry and digital art, including that used for the Tart Words Mary Stewar...
The classic recipe, refined. Chocolate Chip Cookies are familiar from childhood, and I've changed a few things.
In this episode of Tart Words, Suzanne Fox and Linda Hengerer are discussing Mary Stewart’s book My Brother Michael and how she uses setting, incorporates both ancient and recent history, and how her characters answer a call to adventure.
It was first published in 1959 by Hodder & Stoughton and is now available in ebook editions.
Description from Amazon:
''Nothing ever happens to me...'' So begins Camilla Haven&...
Linda Hengerer is talking with Joan Lipinsky Cochran, whose Becks Ruchinsky Mysteries explore subcultures of American Judaism.
Joan Lipinsky Cochran is a former journalist who has written for such publications as Family Circle, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post, Florida Design and South Florida Magazine. Her food articles have also appeared in the Sun-Sentinel, Moment Magazine, and The Forward, among o...
Linda talks with Nancy J. Cohen, author of the Bad Hair Day mystery series.
Nancy J. Cohen writes the Bad Hair Day Mysteries featuring South Florida hairstylist Marla Vail. These books have won numerous awards along with her nonfiction titles, Writing the Cozy Mystery and A Bad Hair Day Cookbook. Active in the writing community, Nancy is a past president of Florida Romance Writers and Mystery Writers of America, Florida Chapter. Wh...
I love almond butter crunch. This is similar but on a matzo or salted cracker base. Matzo Toffee Crunch is perfect for Passover, Easter, or whenever you want a sweet toffee bite.
Chat About Tart Words: Writers read. Readers bake. Bakers write.
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