Today Ivy Culpepper is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about A Murder Yule Regret, the latest novel in the Bread Shop mystery series.

Welcome, Ivy. Let’s get started, shall we?

Tell us about the novel that you live inside. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.

Do you like bread? I do, which makes the Bread Shop Mystery series the absolute BEST series in which to live. Bread, every day. I mean, what could be better!

I met the lovely Olaya Solis, proprietor of Yeast of Eden, Santa Sofia’s artisan bread shop. She had a bread making class going on and somehow she knew I was going to be part of it before I even did. She’s magical like that.

And then there’s Penelope Branford. She’s my across the street octogenarian neighbor. She’s a retired English teacher from Santa Sofia High School and she’s one wise woman. I’d say she’s my sidekick, and I love her.

Miguel Baptista is my fiancé. He started as my high school boyfriend. We separated for a lot of years, and now I couldn’t be happier to be reunited with him.

And finally, there’s sweet Agatha, my fawn pug. She’s named after Agatha Christie. She’s my other sidekick 🙂

Does the writer control what happens in the story or do you get a say too?

A little bit of both. My writer knows the basics of the story, but I get to lead the charge. She’s like the producer, but I’m the director. Often, she doesn’t know what’s going to happen, or where a twist in the story will go. Only I do, and I get to surprise her!

How did you evolve as the main character?

I came back to Santa Sofia after my mother unexpectedly died. Being back home after so many years in Austin, Texas, and after an unfortunate marriage and divorce, felt like being wrapped up in warm blanket.

It felt right.

Sometimes you have to go away to realize what you really want.

Do you have any other characters you like sharing the story with? If so, why are you partial to them?

All the people I mentioned above are essential to my life. My brother, Billy, my dad, Owen, and my best friend (and sister-in-law and the sheriff), Emmaline Davis, are the other essential people in my life. I wouldn’t want to exist in a world without them.

What’s the place like where you find yourself in this story?

In A Murder Yule Regret, it’s Christmas time and there is a Hollywood starlet who’s bought a house here. Her name is Eliza Fox. She has Yeast of Eden cater her Dickens-themed holiday party. But, as you’d expect in a Bread Shop Mystery, murder happens. I came to really like Eliza and wanted so much to help her get through this horrible event.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about you and the book?

Get yourself in the holiday spirit by reading A Murder Yule Regret. You won’t regret it!

Thank you for answering my questions, Ivy, and good luck to you and your author, Winnie Archer, with A Murder Yule Regret, the latest book in the Bread Shop mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Ivy and her author, Winnie Archer by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook and publisher’s pages.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

 Amazon  – B&N – Kobo – IndieBound

About Winnie Archer: Winnie Archer is the nationally bestselling author of the Bread Shop Mystery series, and the Magical Dressmaking Mystery series written as Melissa Bourbon. A former middle school English teacher, lives in North Carolina with her educator husband, Carlos, and the youngest of their five children.