Sunday Spotlight on Maddie Day/Edith Maxwell, Woman of Many Careers

Maddie Day here, and it's my day to be in the Sunday Spotlight! One lucky commenter will win one of my special author aprons.

Tomorrow marks my tenth year as a published author, and my 28th novel comes out in nine days. You might fairly ask - how did that happen?

My first novel as it was first released, and the improved re-issued version

For starters, I wrote fiction constantly as a child in southern California. At age nine, I won a Pasadena Star News children's fiction contest for my short story, “Viking Girl,” and walked away with prize money of $2.00 - my first fiction payment.

My fiction career took decades of detours before I started writing mysteries, even though I've been a writer my whole life.

I did journalism in high school and college. As an adult, I wrote a dissertation to earn my doctorate in the field of linguistics. I wrote features and essays as a free-lance journalist, edited medical texts, published several articles. Most recently I made my living for twenty years writing technical documentation in the software industry. 

But constructing fictional worlds rich with passion, intrigue, and the true mystery of human behavior is what makes me happiest. In 2013 I left high-tech to write mystery fiction full-time, and I'm now living my dream.

Edith/Maddie's 2022 shelfie 

I now have six series under my belt, either completed or ongoing, with possibilities of yet another one. Here's a more-or-less chronological list:

• Lauren Rousseau Mysteries - traditional, two books, by Edith
• Local Foods Mysteries - cozy foodie, five books, by Edith
• Country Store Mysteries - cozy foodie, ten and ongoing, by Maddie
• Quaker Midwife Mysteries - historical, seven, by Edith
• Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries - cozy foodie, four and ongoing, by Maddie
• Cece Barton Mysteries - cozy (but no recipes!), the first to appear in 2023 and ongoing, by Maddie

I used my knowledge of academic life and contemporary Quakers in the Lauren Rousseau series. 

Having been an organic farmer, I know the language and tensions of someone like Cam Flaherty, the farmer in the Local Foods mysteries. I included recipes with ingredients in harvest during the season in the book (which got a little tricky for Farmed and Dangerous, the book set during a blizzard).

Edith with part of her garlic crop circa 1993

I lived in southern Indiana for five years and loved the slow pace and language of its natives, so it made sense to set the Country Store Mysteries there. I was interviewed about my career in the Indiana University Alumni Magazine. The recipes are all for dishes Robbie Jordan serves in the restaurant or that she eats elsewhere.

As a Quaker myself, and having worked as a doula and taught independent childbirth classes, I had the experience and knowledge to write about the life of Rose Carroll, the 1880s midwife portrayed in the Quaker Midwife Mysteries. At the Malice Domestic Convention in April 2022, I finally collected the Agatha Award teapot that I won in 2020 for Best Historical Novel. The Agatha Award was for Charity’s Burden, the 4th book in my Quaker Midwife Series.

My Cozy Capers Book Group series, written as Maddie, comes straight out of both my imagination and regular solo writing retreats on Cape Cod. The new book next week, Murder in a Cape Cottage, is my first ticking-clock and skeleton-in-the-wall novel! But since Mac Almeida doesn't cook much, the recipes come from her beau, Tim, or from meals she eats elsewhere.

And while I live in Amesbury, Massachusetts, I'm originally a fourth-generation Californian. I'm thrilled to have my new Cece Barton Mysteries series debuting next year (also written as Maddie) with Murder, Uncorked, which is set in the Alexander Valley wine country north of San Francisco. I'm off next month to stay in my uncle's second home there and do final bits of research. This is my first series written as Maddie with no recipes, but don't worry. Lots of yummy food - and wine - is described in the stories.

I blog with five other New England mystery authors at WickedAuthors.com We were featured in the Boston Globe a few years ago! 

And of course I am right here on the second and fourth Fridays of each month, plus the group posts. It's great being part of this supportive author/chef group. I've loved cooking my whole adult life, so including recipes in my books is a natural fit for my foodie series. My Hugh loves the testing phase. 

With Hugh at Edith's son Allan's wedding

I have two fabulous grown sons who, by some miracle, still enjoy spending time with me, and are creative and competent cooks in their own right. Allan and Alison have been married four years, and I'm delighted John and Alexandra will marry in February!

Alexandra and John, Allan and Alison

I live in an antique house with my partner Hugh and our sweet cat, Martin. I spend every morning in my upstairs office making stuff up and monitoring traffic on our one-block-long street.

And that's pretty much it. When I left the last day job, all kinds of people asked me how retirement was going. I said, "I'm not retired. Writing crime fiction is my new job." And I love it.

Readers: What's been your favorite job? I'd love to send one commenter one of my special author aprons in celebration of my ten-year publication anniversary!

My most recent release is Batter Off Dead, Country Store Mystery #10, out now!

My next release is Murder in a Cape Cottage, the fourth Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, out September 27.

"Scarfed Down," my Country Store novella in the collection Christmas Scarf Murder releases the same day.

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.

Edith Maxwell