Witches and Wedding Cake by Bailey Cates

Jenn McKinlay: I remember when I was lucky enough to read the very first Magical Bakery Mystery - Brownies and Broomsticks - I loved it and all of the volumes that have followed! And now, here we are celebrating number NINE! Congrats on your recent release, Bailey, and thanks for visiting us today. 

Bailey Cates: Hello everyone! I’m so delighted to be here (thanks, Jenn!) and to talk a little about the latest Magical Bakery Mystery (#9!), Witches and Wedding Cake. As you might guess from the title, this is the one where Katie Lightfoot and Declan McCarthy finally get married – though there are a few hiccups along the way. 

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Like when his little sister finds the dead body of her ex-husband in a seedy motel room.

This is the second fictional wedding I’ve planned, and those are the only weddings I’ve planned. While I have a long-time partner, I’ve never been married, and at this point in my life don’t plan on it. The first wedding I wrote about was based on a lovely, simple ceremony I attended some twenty-five years ago. This time around, I researched carefully, asked for suggestions from friends (so many opinions!), and free-wrote a kind of interview with Katie to see what would best fit her character. She’s a bit of a free spirit, and it turns out she’s not too worried about tradition. 

Enter her soon-to-be sister-in-law, Eliza McCarthy. She’s the oldest of the five McCarthy offspring, all of whom are women except for Declan, who falls right in the middle. She’s a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, a strictly by-the-book sort, and right from the beginning, she takes issue with Katie’s plans. She doesn’t like that the bridesmaids are anything but “maids”, if you know what I mean, since all are either partnered, married, or divorced. They range from a very pregnant twenty-something to a spritely octogenarian. She doesn’t care for the mismatched vintage furniture supplied by the event rental company. (It’s a real company, and I fell in love with the dreamy pictures of distressed, white-painted tables and chairs on their website.) She’s upset that there isn’t a rehearsal or a rehearsal dinner planned. Eliza also doesn’t care for Katie’s plan to start the party – the wedding is in the backyard of her and Declan’s newly renovated carriage house – then pause it for the ceremony, and start it back up again after they’re officially hitched. Even the wedding cake, a tiered stand covered with seven different kinds of yummy cupcakes, isn’t traditional enough for her.

Katie is an only child, and she finds navigating the complexities of suddenly having four sisters thrust upon her somewhat challenging. As it happens, I’m an only child, so it’s not hard for me to imagine this. Perhaps because I have such a small family of origin, family is really important to me – both extended and made. Like Katie, I have a cadre of close friends I consider to be family, as well as cousins and my partner’s sisters. In the end, Katie manages just fine. Oh, and she also finds a murderer. 

Next up, I’m planning a fictional baby shower. This is another thing I’ve never done in real life, and I have to admit I don’t love attending baby showers where there are lots of games and such. Any suggestions for how to make this one unique and fun? I’d love to hear them!

Bailey Cates Cattrell 

Like many of her cozy characters, Bailey Cates believes magic is all around us if we take the time to look for it. She lives in Colorado with her guy and Cheesecat the Orange, a tabby who looks an awful lot like the one in her books. When not writing, she loves to cook, garden, hike and bike the gorgeous terrain outside her door, and occasionally play a round of mediocre golf. She’s currently working on the 10^th Magical Bakery Mystery, Spirits and Sourdough. You can find out more about Bailey and her books at www.baileycates.com.

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Special event notices: 

Please join Lucy Burdette and Deborah Crombie *tonight* in 

conversation about Lucy's new book, THE KEY LIME CRIME. 

6 pm at Books and Books Key West. The event is free, but you'll 

need to register here...

Lucy Burdette and Deborah Crombie