Guest Post - Cozy Crimes

Alison from  Cozy Crimes is visiting today from Australia. Alison and I share our love of cozy mysteries and Vegemite.


How did you decide to start a blog?
I read a lot and thought it would be fun to start a blog and meet other people who shared my interest in cozy mysteries.


Tell us a little about you.
I live in Brisbane, Australia. It is the capital of a state called Queensland and is located on the eastern coast of Australia. I also have two cats who are kings of the castle. I like to bake and trying out new recipes – I am still trying to find the perfect Chocolate Chip cookie recipe!

Which authors inspire you?
I really admire any author who can create characters and a setting that you want to keep reading about. One example that comes to mind is Lorna Barrett’s Booktown Mysteries as I like the fact that it is set in a town full of bookstores. When can I move in?

So many genres have such fuzzy lines these days and blend into each other. We now have paranormal cozies and cooking related cozies. What are your favorites?
I really like cozies that have a cooking theme, especially baking ones like Jenn McKinlay’s Cupcake Bakery Mysteries, or the Della Cooks Mysteries by Melinda Wells.

Do you prefer to read books in print or e-books? What are your thoughts on e-books?
I do prefer reading a “real” book, but I also own an e-book reader. I think it’s great that these days you can carry around a whole library of books in your handbag and never run out of something to read! E-books are also opening up a whole range of options for authors who may not get published otherwise.

Do you have a favorite place where you like to read?
I generally sit in an armchair in the lounge (sharing with a cat of course!)

What can we expect for 2012?  Anything new coming up on your blog?
I have a few ideas tossing around in my head and hopefully I will be introducing some new things to the blog in the near future.

Brisbane

This is a picture of the city of Brisbane, the third largest city in Australia The river flooded in January 2011, destroying many homes and businesses and the city is still recovering. It’s a great place to live, and it’s only a short drive to some of the best beaches in Australia.


This is a jar of Vegemite. It is an iconic Australian product that most Aussie kids grow up on. You spread it on toast or sandwiches. Vegemite is made from used brewers' yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacturing, and various vegetable and spice additives
It looks like boot polish, smells like fermented beer and is incredibly salty, but Australians love it!.

This is a packet of Tim Tam’s, a chocolate biscuit that Australians love. It is made up of two chocolate biscuits with a chocolate cream filling in the middle, and then covered in more chocolate. According to their website “1 in every 2 households contains a packet of Tim Tams and around 35 million packs are sold each year – that’s nearly 400 million biscuits!”.

Alison, thanks for stopping by today. I had to laugh at your Vegemite picture. It reminded me of  a school project my son had when he was in elementary school. He had to write down procedures for doing something and he chose to instruct everyone on how to make a Marmite (the English version of Vegemite) and cheese sandwich!