Today Lana Lewis is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about Cold Brew Corpse, the latest novel in the Coffee Lover’s mystery series.

Welcome, Lana. 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.

My name is Lana Lewis, and I live inside the Coffee Lover’s Mystery series. This particular installment is called Cold Brew Corpse, and it’s the second book in the series. I’m the star of both books, and as far as I can tell, the writer is chronicling my journey from being a reporter in Miami to a barista on a small Florida island. That doesn’t sound too interesting to me, but I guess all the murders are fascinating. Well, and the fact that I keep solving murders while making the best coffee in Florida.

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

Ugh, the writer is such a…writer. She controls all of the words. As a former journalist, this is incredibly frustrating. I try to tell her what to write and sometimes she ignores me. Can you believe that? The nerve of some writers. Sheesh.

How did you evolve as the main character?

The writer was actually a journalist in Florida as well, and she likes to say that my story is her love song to journalism. She wanted to write a character based on all of the reporters she’d met in Florida, and then I was laid off. Which is a pretty common occurrence these days, so she wrote about what happened after my dismissal from the Miami paper.

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

I love to share! Especially with Stanley, my Shih Tzu, Erica, an amazing barista and my BFF, and of course, Police Chief Noah Garcia. I have complicated feelings for Noah because of my divorce, but I never mind sharing anything with Noah.

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

I live on Devil’s Beach, Florida, an island in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s the most beautiful place in the Sunshine State, in my opinion. There are gorgeous sugar sand beaches, a cute downtown with shops, and lots of quirky characters. If you read COLD BREW CORPSE, I’ll introduce you to all of the eccentric Devil’s Beach residents. Including my dad, who is probably the biggest gossip (and most eccentric of all).

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

I hope everyone reads it because this particular crime is interesting. A really gorgeous yoga teacher goes missing, and I decide to sleuth for an article. I end up in a few sticky situations, including men’s candlelight nude yoga. It was awkward and weird, and well, you just have to read it.

Thank you for answering my questions, Lana, and good luck to you and your author, Tara Lush, with Cold Brew Corpse, the latest book in the Coffee Lover’s mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Lana and her author, Tara Lush. by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Goodreads, and Instagram pages. You can also follow her on Twitter.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Amazon  Apple     Barnes&Noble      Kobo     Penguin Random House

About Tara Lush: Tara Lush is a Florida-based author and journalist. She’s an RWA Rita finalist, an Amtrak writing fellow, and the winner of the George C. Polk award for environmental journalism.

She was a reporter with The Associated Press in Florida, covering crime, alligators, natural disasters, and politics. She also writes contemporary romance set in tropical locations under the name Tamara Lush.

Tara is a fan of vintage pulp fiction book covers, Sinatra-era jazz, 1980s fashion, tropical chill, kombucha, gin, tonic, seashells, iPhones, Art Deco, telenovelas, street art, coconut anything, strong coffee, and newspapers. She lives on the Gulf Coast with her husband and two dogs.