Surprise! Guess who just dropped by Chicks today? Two of our founding members, Chicks Emeritae, and authors extraordinaire Marla Cooper and Kellye Garrett! Of course we had a zillion questions for them, and they graciously agreed to share just a few of the amazing things they’ve been up to lately…

 Marla, is it true we now have 2 Chicks in academia?

It is! I started teaching at Texas State University a couple of years ago in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. As an interesting side note, my school has its own Forensic Anthropology Research Facility, AKA Body Farm! Mystery novel inspiration, so close at hand!

What are you reading/streaming right now?

KG: I just started One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole. I loved her last thriller, When No One Was Watching, which won an Edgar. She’s so good at taking a suspense trope—in this case an isolated location—and putting such a unique spin on it.

In terms of streaming, I’ve been obsessed with The Traitors murder mystery reality show. Peacock is streaming seasons from the U.S., Australia, UK, and New Zealand. And I have watched them all. It’s so interesting to see how interpersonal dynamics and personalities come into play.

We’ve seen the drool-worthy photos of your new abodes—we had no idea you were both such amazing designing women! What was your biggest challenge or triumph in the DIY department?

KG: First, thank you. I’m officially a homeowner, which has been quite the journey. Besides the standard “Eek, this is broke and I’m the one responsible for getting it fixed” drama, the biggest challenge has been my impatience. I wanted my place to be magazine-worthy on move- in, but you have to actually live in a space to see what works for you and get a sense of how it should look to be comfortable as much as it’s pretty. One thing I did quickly learn is that I needed to do as little DIY as possible.

MC: I’m weirdly proud of my bathroom. It was SUPER dated, with two pedestal sinks, Hollywood lights, and ugly, greyish-blue fixtures, including a bidet that was located so that the door hit it if you opened it all the way. We gutted it completely and spent an embarrassing amount of hours figuring out the layout, since it’s kind of an odd shape. But now, it’s my favorite room in the house!

Kellye, do you still create those gorgeous plotting boards when writing a new book?

I don’t! I had to get rid of a lot of stuff when I moved and unfortunately the white board was one of them. I have officially taken it online with this chart I had created years ago when I was still writing screenplays. The structure (think Save the Cat) still works wonderfully for plotting out books and short stories. And I don’t have to struggle to read my own handwriting.

Marla, whatever happened to your skeleton guy? Is he still hanging around?

“Slim” is still with us! He has his own antique wooden wheelchair, so we roll him around the house as the mood strikes us. We put him out in the garage to make room for our Christmas tree, and he hasn’t come back in yet, like a teenage boy who finally got his own room. Maybe I’d better go check on him!

Have you been seated beside anyone reading a book of yours lately? (FYI, Kathy was on an airplane and the woman next to her was reading one of your books, so of course she had to talk to her!)

KG: I’ve seen one person in real life with one of my books! She was reading my debut on my train. I think it was because I’d seen her reading a different mystery once (we rode the same line) and was brave enough to hand her my business card. So I was happy she’d actually bought it. I was shy and just snuck a pic. (I sound like a stalker so I hope this doesn’t deter people from reading my books in public!)

(Note: Lisa took the first pic below of Kellye at Left Coast Crime in Reno, celebrating her debut HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE. And the next pic is of Marla, with her debut, TERROR IN TAFFETA (pic not taken by Lisa).

Marla, update requests continue to pour in concerning your chickens, featured in a famous Chick graphic. Are they still clucking for your attention, or have they flown the coop?

They moved to a nice farm in the country — and that’s not a euphemism, like you might tell a six-year-old! We loved having them so much; did I ever tell you they would literally run out to greet us when they heard our car? But we found some people with a free-range poultry farm/petting zoo who could provide for them better than we could — and most importantly, they promised me they would never eat them for dinner.

Kellye, you co-founded Crime Writers of Color with Walter Mosley and Gigi Pandian, and the group quickly became a major force for needed change in the mystery community. Thanks to CWOC, we’ve made some progress–but where do we need to do the most serious work right now?

First, thank you for both the kind words and giving us probably too much credit. I do think we came along at the right time when publishers and others (but not all!) in the crime fiction community were finally willing to have tough conversations.

For me, my biggest concern is that books by marginalized authors about marginalized characters aren’t a trend. (It has been before. Just look up black women mystery writers in the 1990s.) I can’t wait for the day where it’s no big deal to see a cozy about a queer man, a PI story about an Asian-American detective, or—in my case—a domestic suspense novel about a Black woman.

Marla, many will never forget hanging out with you on the open-air lanai after a Left Coast Crime banquet in Hawaii. You played the ukelele, and we sang along. Do you still play the ukelele? (FYI, Kathy recently mentioned she can play Eye of the Tiger on the flute—can you accompany her?)

I do still play the ukulele! I’m actually part of a big group where a hundred or so players get together once a month to learn a song together. It is SO MUCH FUN! One of my favorite memories from that trip to LCC was getting to practice La Vie en Rose in Leslie’s back yard in Hilo pre-conference. She introduced us to her favorite breakfast spot where we ate banana macadamia nut pancakes, and last week the cultural exchange was complete when she was in Austin and I took her for breakfast tacos!

Kathy, I’m ready to duet — you name the time and place!

Kellye, are your adorable niece and nephew still your fiercest supporters?

My niece spent a good ten minutes looking through Like A Sister for her name because I’d dedicated the book to her mom. So she fully expected her name to be in the book too. So best believe that she and her brother’s names are in Missing White Woman more than once! I need someone to take care of me when I’m old.

Marla, what have you been working on, besides rehoming chickens, playing the ukulele, and designing bathrooms?

This is going to come out of left field, especially for Ellen and Kellye who used to do this for real, but I’ve been dabbling at TV writing! I teamed up with a college friend of mine who’s been kicking around Hollywood for a minute, and we created a sitcom together. We also got tapped to write an animated series through one of his connections, and – get this – we actually pitched FX last month with the creators of the show! Nothing has come of it yet, but I’ve loved the creative process and trying something new.

So, Kellye… any book news?

Yes! I’m doing a short story. It’s an Amazon Original Story, as part of their amateur detective collection out in the fall. I just got edits back for it. (Eek!) All my books have some social media element. Like A Sister focused on Instagram. Missing White Woman has TikTok vignettes. This short story deals with YouTube influencers, where a woman gets selected by this huge YouTube content creator to take part in an extreme Hide and Seek challenge for $50,000. When someone tries to kill the creator, she has to figure out who.

***CHICK INTERVIEWER NOTE***

It just so happens Kellye Garrett also has a much-anticipated, glowingly-reviewed new novel, MISSING WHITE WOMAN, coming out on April 30^th. You can get more details and pre-order it here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kellye-garrett/missing-white-woman/9780316256971/?lens=mulholland-books

 Last question (for now!): Will you visit us here at this coop again soon? We miss you!

MK: I’d love to!! I miss my Chicks and all the great people I met along the way. I’ve literally thought about writing a new series just so I can be back among my favorite people. Y’all inspire me so much, and I look forward to being in the same room with you again someday soon! (Note: Our beloved Jen joined us Chicks not long after this totally flattering photo was taken, clearly by Leslie and not Lisa.)

Readers, please join in our reunion chat with Kellye and Marla—any comments or questions for our esteemed Chicks Emeritae?