Elizabeth Pantley, author of A Carousels and Characters, the latest novel in the Magical Mystery Book Club mysteries series, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today.

Welcome, Elizabeth.

Tell us about your novel. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.

Carousels and Characters is book 9 in the Magical Mystery Book Club Series. (There’s also an additional tenth book available to my newsletter subscribers.)

This book club meets in their enchanted library. When they agree on a book they are whooshed inside it! They become the characters in the story. Their job is to be the amateur sleuths and solve the mystery. This quirky group has a lot of fun, but they are also very brave — they must solve the mystery to get out of the book! 

Is there a theme or subject that underlies the story? If so, what prompted you to write about it?

One I put together the book club and created the magical library I realized that the places they could visit, and the mysteries they could solve, are endless! And because they find themselves in paranormal stories they also get to interact with all different kinds of beings: fairies, ghosts, genies and more. This allows my imagination to explode with each new story.

How do you create your characters? Do you have favourite ones? If so, why are you partial to them?

I am very partial to two of my main characters. The cat, Frank, is a smart, snarky Siamese cat who reminds me of a cat I had as a child. He’s got a huge ego and he’s funny, too! I also love Zell, a tiny, spunky, funny, eighty-one-year-old with no filters whatsoever. She reminds me of my ninety-year-old Mom!

How do you bring to life the place you are writing about?

This book is set in an enchanted theme park. Every year I take my mom to Disneyland – it’s our favorite vacation spot. All the rules go out the window and we eat junk, go on all the rides, and have the time of our lives. It was a blast to write a journey for the book club in a theme park setting!

What research do you do to provide background information to help you write the novel?

Well, in this book, it’s rooted in my love of Disneyland and all my wonderful memories. Another book in the series finds the group on a cruise ship to Hawaii – because I love to cruise, especially to warm, tropical places. All my books have been inspired by places I’ve visited. Except, of course, the one that sets in a sprite kingdom. I’ve never been there!

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

Get ready to suspend reality and imagine what it would be like to dive – literally – into one of your favorite books!

Thank you for answering my questions, Elizabeth, and good luck with Carousels and Characters, the latest book in the Magical Mystery Book Club mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Elizabeth Pantley by visiting the author’s Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads and Bookbub pages.

The novel is available online at Amazon

About Elizabeth Pantley: Elizabeth writes well-loved cozy mysteries in two series: The Destiny Falls Mystery & Magic book series and the Magical Mystery Book Club series.

Elizabeth lives in the Pacific Northwest and Arizona, two very different places. Both are rich, gorgeous, natural places, and inspire the settings in many of her books.