Christy Wilhelmi
Author Interview - Christy Wilhelmi
Author of Bolting to Seed: A Garden Variety Novel
Lizzie Raju has "Six Reasons Not to Have Kids." Finding a corpse in her happy place wasn't on the list.
It's been six months since Lizzie married the hunky guy she met at Vista Mar Community Garden and, unfortunately for him, she has six reasons for not wanting kids.
But when a dead body turns up in the tool shed, she has to solve the mystery and save her marriage, or her urban oasis will wither to dust. In Bolting to Seed, Lizzie and the eclectic cast of characters return for another growing season, but in-fighting and the threat of death prevent them from finding peace in gardening.
What's a gardener to do when plants aren't the only thing dying behind the locked gates at Vista Mar?
Bolting to Seed is a cozy mystery that follows the lives of Lizzie and a diverse group of urban farmers at Vista Mar Gardens, an organic community garden in Los Angeles, CA. You'll find gardening lessons interwoven with clues as you guess whodunit in this engaging work of women's fiction.
Lizzie tackles the very personal question: To breed or not to breed, as she grapples with the fact that her biological clock has no alarm. Jared struggles to find his way through Lizzie's indecision. Meanwhile, Ralph tumbles head-first into matters of the heart, while Ned and Mary deal with the challenges of aging and contentious members of their community garden.
New characters enter the mix: homicide detective Gloria Jimenez-will she fall for Vista Mar as she solves the mystery? Will Tyler Wong get what he needs to keep his boyfriend happy? And is Soo-Jin stringing Ralph along, or does she feel more? You'll have to join the members of Vista Mar Gardens inside the gates to find out.
Who is this for?
Lovers of cozy mysteries will find this book charming, and they'll learn about gardening as they solve the murder. Fans of Garden Variety will love the return to the scene of the crime, so to speak, to continue the story of Lizzie, Jared, Mary, Ned and the rest of the gardeners at Vista Mar. Will Lizzie go childless by choice? Will Ned & Mary give up Board control? Or is something deeper taking hold that is beyond their control?
Author Interview - Christy Wilhelmi
Author I draw inspiration from:
Barbara Kingsolver and her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle got me started on the idea of integrating gardening into my fiction. Also, Flight Behavior anchored the notion that an author can deliver educational information through plot and story without doing a boring info-dump.
Author Interview - Christy Wilhelmi | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
On my couch at home with my cat sitting next to me.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Fitzwilliam Darcy - I have often imagined our conversations in present-day times, with me explaining modern conveniences like cars and cell phones to him. He'd be fascinated, but offended at the same time, that 'anyone' can own an automobile, and that texting has replaced a hand-delivered letter to break off an engagement.
Author Interview - Christy Wilhelmi | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
When I was puttering in my community garden plot and realized that no one has ever written a story about the community in a community garden.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Paperback, but a good hardcover feels special and important sometimes.
The last book I read:
I'm currently reading Delicious! a novel by Ruth Reichl. So far I am enjoying it. She's a cookbook author who ventured into fiction, much like I did with gardening.
Author Interview - Christy Wilhelmi | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Notes on paper, drafts on the computer. When I get ideas, I jot them down in a notebook designated for the book I am working on. Then when I go back to look at my notes, I'm grateful because I will have completely forgotten about an idea I scribbled down weeks ago. Those ideas translate into a draft on my computer.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Eleanor Dashwood (from Sense & Sensibility, Jane Austen). We are both practical and keep our emotions close to the vest.
Author Interview - Christy Wilhelmi | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I'd be hosting my own gardening show. I'm actually working on a project right now for PBS, and need to find underwriters to bring the show to life.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
1920s - Erte-inspired art deco fashions, no corsets, cloche hats, what more could you want?!
Place I’d most like to travel:
New Zealand - the land where nothing can kill you. I'd like to hike hut-to-hut through their glorious mountains.
My signature drink:
Maple lemonade - made from equal part fresh squeezed Meyer lemons and maple syrup, and water (or sparkling, if you like bubbles).
Favorite artist:
My friend Kyle Hollingsworth. She helped design the cover of my new novel, but it's a departure from her usual art, which features a lot of hummingbirds and teal.
Number one on my bucket list:
Creating my gardening show centered around community gardens and the people who grow there.
Anything else you'd like to add:
Thanks for the opportunity to share. I'll be sending a paperback in the mail shortly.
Find more from the author:
@gardenerd1 on IG and TT
Gardenerd.com on FB.
Gardenerd YouTube channel.
About Christy Wilhelmi:
Christy Wilhelmi
Christy Wilhelmi empowers people to grow their own food, to be more self-reliant, and to reduce pollution and waste, one garden at a time.
Christy is founder of Gardenerd, the ultimate resource for garden nerds, where she publishes newsletters, her popular blog, and top-ranked podcasts. She also specializes in small-space, organic vegetable garden design and consulting. She holds regular organic gardening classes in California, and offers tips on her YouTube channel worldwide. Between 50-70 percent of her family’s produce comes from her garden of less than 300 square feet. She is author of High Yield Small Space Organic Gardening (Fox Chapel Publishing), 400+ Tips for Organic Gardening Success: A Decade of Tricks, Tools, Recipes, and Resources from Gardenerd.com (Amazon Digital), Grow Your Own Mini Fruit Garden (Cool Springs Press), and Garden Variety: A Novel (William Morrow) and its sequel Bolting to Seed.
