This month, the Crew is welcoming Cozy Mystery and Historical Fiction Author Dianne Ascroft to the scene. We stumbled upon Dianne Ascroft’s books while researching our “trip” to Ireland this August and were immediately intrigued by her way of weaving history into cozy mysteries!
About Dianne Ascroft
Dianne Ascroft writes the Century Cottage Cozy Mysteries, set in rural Canada during the 1980s, as well as The Yankee Years, a historical fiction series set in WWII Northern Ireland. Since moving from Toronto, Canada, to the UK in 1990, she has lived in Belfast and Scotland before settling on a small farm in Northern Ireland more than two decades ago with her husband and an assortment of strong-willed pets. Her pair of calico cats were the inspiration for her main character’s pets in her cozy mystery series.
Dianne feels that part of the enjoyment of reading a cozy mystery is losing oneself in a pleasing setting, so she fictionalized a small town in Canada that she loved and dived into writing the Century Cottage Cozy Mystery series.
She wanted to create a place that beckons readers to step in and stay a while, and characters that readers would remember. Writing stories set in Canada during the 1980s is a nostalgic journey back to her homeland as it was forty years ago when she was a young woman, and she enjoys every minute she spends writing about it.
You can find Dianne Ascroft on social media at https://www.dianneascroft.com.
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Our Interview with Dianne Ascroft begins here
Thank you, Dianne Ascroft, for letting us interview you this month.
What is your background with the bagpipes, and why did you decide to include them in your character’s life?
I learned to play the bagpipes when I was in my early twenties, and I played in pipe bands for more than twenty years in Canada, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. I really enjoyed the music and the camaraderie of the pipe band world.
My main character, Lois Stone, is a rather conventional person in most aspects of her life, so I decided to surprise readers by giving her an unusual hobby for a woman of her age and era. Since I knew quite a bit about bagpipes, making her a musician was easy to incorporate into the story. It also fit well with the Scottish heritage of the town where she lives.
How did you decide to include some Titanic artifacts in the storyline?
I read A Night to Remember by Walter Lord when I was in my early teens, and his writing evoked the night the Titanic sank so vividly in my mind that I’ve never forgotten the book, and it left me with a lasting interest in the events of that night.
The poignant bravery of many of the people aboard the ship as they faced death profoundly affected me. So I’ve always kept tabs any new facts that emerge about the sinking. I was glued to the television when details first emerged about the discovery of the wreck in the mid-1980s.
I know others are equally captivated by the ship and the tragedy, so when I discovered that a pocket watch that had belonged to a Titanic survivor was in the museum in the real town my fictional Fenwater is inspired by, I knew I had to include a fictional version of it in the first novel in my series. The pocket watch in the real museum got me thinking about what would happen if such a treasured artifact was stolen. The plot for A Timeless Celebration just grew from there.
Did you always know you wanted to be a writer, or did your passion for storytelling develop over time?
I’m an only child, and my mother and grandfather were voracious readers, so I learned to love reading early, but despite my love of reading, I didn’t consider writing until I was middle-aged.
When I turned forty, I decided to put my imagination and love of stories to use and try a new hobby: writing. I saw an ad in Ireland’s Own, an Irish family magazine, for a writing contest, and I submitted the first chapter of a novel I was writing. I won the contest and received a publishing package from a service provider for indie writers. This started me on my writing journey.
How do you develop and bring your characters to life? Are they ever inspired by real people or experiences?
Most of the characters in the Century Cottage Cozy Mysteries series sort of randomly popped out of my head. Some of their characteristics and quirks are inspired by real people, but mostly they escaped from my imagination and are now running free to do whatever they please. They often have their own ideas about where the story is going, and I have to follow them along the paths they choose.
But one of my characters, Blanche Patterson, is a rare example of a character that I have based very closely on a real person. My great-aunt Blanche came from Holland, and she met my Canadian great-uncle Murray when he was in a Canadian army unit fighting to liberate the Netherlands during the Second World War.
My great-aunt was a brave and determined woman who was active in the resistance, so I drew from her life story to inspire my character Blanche’s life. The character is Lois’s next door neighbour, and she first appears in The Snow Job, the third novel in the series. She will play an even greater role in Book 4, which will be released next spring.
Check out our Book Review of Dianne Ascroft’s A Timeless Celebration, a cozy mystery that blends mystery with a little slice of history.
What sources of inspiration do you draw upon when crafting your stories? Are there particular life experiences that influence your writing?
The ideas for my cozy mystery plots come from many different places: incidents that happen to me, my hobbies, including my interest in history and my experiences playing the bagpipes, random thoughts that cross my mind, bits of trivia that catch my attention and my research into the history of the real town my fictional Fenwater is inspired by.
My historical research and my passion for quilting came together as the basis for my second novel, The Heritage Heist. I’ve been a keen patchwork quilter since I was a teenager so when I stumbled across information about the tradition of wholecloth quilting in the Scottish Borders region, where the original settlers of my fictional town Fenwater came from, I had to weave it into the plot of the novel.
In the Scottish Borders town Hawick, their wholecloth quilts have a ‘broken heart’ and thistle motif. In this design, the stitching never meets at the top of the heart to complete the shape. I modelled the antique quilt in The Heritage Heist on this design. My character Lois is wowed by the exquisite workmanship in the beautiful counterpane when she first sees it, and she keenly feels its loss when it’s stolen. She is even more perturbed when one of her friends becomes the prime suspect in the theft of the cherished textile.
Do you have a favorite character that you’ve created? What makes this character particularly special to you?
Lois Stone, the main character in the series, is definitely one of my favourite characters. The middle-aged librarian is quiet, dependable, and trustworthy. Although she is quiet, she has a dry sense of humour, and her caring personality shines through her somewhat subdued exterior. I think her struggle with grief after the death of her husband and her determination not to retreat from life, despite her shyness, adds depth to her personality.
I wanted her to be believable rather than larger than life: someone readers will like and relate to, and for these reasons, she appeals to me too. I also used a couple of my own characteristics, likes, and dislikes, to create her, so this also ties me more closely to her than any of my other characters.
What do you hope readers take away from your stories? Is there a particular message or feeling you aim to convey?
I try to write cozy mysteries that are heartwarming stories with a hint of history thrown in. If there were a genre called Mellow Mystery then that’s my books. The mystery is there and there’s time to enjoy the characters and place too. For me it’s important that the characters and place both appeal to the reader. I usually focus on characters that are people readers might meet and the kinds of places that everyone knows.
My goal is to warm readers’ hearts and put smiles on their faces. My mysteries do have tension and drama, but perhaps in a more understated way than some other books do. I hope my readers will enjoy and connect with my brand of mystery.
What was your favorite childhood story?
I could never have just one favourite. There were many, but Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight and Albert Payson Terhune’s Lad, a dog were among my favourite childhood books. In my early teens I loved S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders.
How do you approach the process of submitting your work to publishers or pursuing self-publishing? What has been your experience?
I’ve never submitted my writing to a traditional publisher for consideration to publish it. As I’ve mentioned, winning a writing contest run by Ireland’s Own, an Irish family magazine, started me on the path to indie publishing. I won the publishing package and released that novel through a self-publishing service. I enjoyed having control of the whole process and decided to learn how to indie publish on my own.
I haven’t used a self-publishing service since publishing that first book. I now coordinate all aspects of publishing my books myself. I have an editor that I’ve worked with on all the books in my mystery series and we work well together. She edits and formats my books and I design my covers. I do all the tasks related to publishing and marketing my books. It’s a lot of work but I enjoy the process.
Are there any exciting projects or new directions you’re planning to explore in your upcoming works?
I really enjoy immersing myself in my fictional world in Fenwater, Canada and I love spending time with the characters that live there so I intend to continue writing the Century Cottage Cozy Mysteries for the foreseeable future. The next story I’ll release in the series is One Gold Ring, a Christmas novella. I’ve just finished the first draft and will have it ready to release this autumn.
After I finish the novella, I’ll get back to editing The Dutchwoman’s Demise, the fourth novel in the series. The story opens at a tulip festival in Canada and incorporates a story thread that looks back at the resistance in Holland during World War II. The novel will be available next spring.
Who are some authors who have influenced you and or your writing style?
There are loads of authors and books that I could name who have influenced me, but let me tell you about three that stand out. I really admire Diana Gabaldon’s storytelling skill and her ability to interweave stories that unfold over several books. I’m also inspired by Laura Bradford’s ability to write compelling mystery plots, and the way Leighann Dobbs weaves a believable magic world and engaging characters into her stories.
We hope you enjoyed getting to know Dianne Ascroft a little bit better through this interview. Be sure to check out the first book in Dianne Ascroft’s cozy mystery book series, A Timeless Celebration, below!
Check out Dianne Ascroft’s first book in the A Century Cottage Cozy Mystery Book Series
By Dianne Ascroft
Series: A Century Cottage Cozy Mystery Book 1
Genre: Cozy, Cozy Mystery
A small town, a big party, a stolen gift. When an artefact from the Titanic is stolen before her town’s 150th anniversary celebration, it’s up to Lois Stone to catch the thief.
Middle-aged widow Lois has moved from bustling Toronto to tranquil Fenwater and is settling into her new life away from the dangers of the city. Then two events happen that shatter her serenity: her house is burgled, and an antique watch belonging to a Titanic survivor is stolen from the local museum.
Her best friend, Marge, was responsible for the watch’s safekeeping until its official presentation to the museum at the town’s 150th anniversary party, and its disappearance will jeopardise her job and the museum’s future. Lois won’t let her friend take the blame and the consequences for the theft. She’s determined to find the watch in time to save her best friend’s job, the museum’s future, and the town’s 150th anniversary celebration.
And so begins a week of new friends, apple and cinnamon muffins, calico cats, midnight intruders, shadowy caprine companions and more than one person with a reason to steal the watch, set against the backdrop of century houses on leafy residential streets, the swirling melodies of bagpipes, a shimmering heat haze and the burble of cool water.
The Century Cottage Cozy Mystery series is set in rural Ontario, Canada, during the early 1980s.
A tale for fans of Cindy Bell, Leighann Dobbs, Dianne Harman, and Kathi Daley.
Thanks for letting me chat with your readers, Mystery Review Crew. I really enjoyed it.
Dianne