{"id":6650,"date":"2025-09-13T08:36:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T15:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/?p=6650"},"modified":"2025-09-13T08:38:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T15:38:04","slug":"author-interview-katie-tietjen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/author-interview-katie-tietjen\/","title":{"rendered":"Author Interview: Katie Tietjen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Katie Tietjen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was a huge fan of Katie Tietjen’s first novel, Death in the Details,\u00a0<\/strong>which follows war widow Maple Bishop just after the war has ended.\u00a0 Maple is living in a tiny Vermont town and, though she’s a trained lawyer, ends up piecing together a living selling the dollhouses she creates.\u00a0 She also makes “nutshells,”\u00a0 tiny recreations of crime scenes.\u00a0 The nutshells are based on the work of Frances Glessner Lee<\/a>, the mother of crime scene investigation.\u00a0 By book two,\u00a0Murder in Miniature,\u00a0<\/strong>Maple has earned the respect of the police in town and is now an official consultant.\u00a0 The books are charming, thoughtful, and fascinating.\u00a0 Katie was nice enough to answer a few questions about her books.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: I always think it\u2019s difficult for a writer to follow up an origin story like the one in your first book, where you describe Maple\u2019s circumstances and her particular qualities.\u00a0 Was this a challenge for you when you sat down to write this second book?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Actually, no! I found that the second book came together more easily than the first one because I already knew most of the main characters. I also knew that Maple would be feeling restless at the start of book two; on the surface, she seems to have solved the biggest problem plaguing her in Death in the Details<\/em> (her finances), but underneath, she\u2019s still not really satisfied personally or professionally.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Q: At a recent book club, one of our members mentioned she found Maple \u201cneurodivergent\u201d which I guess is true, though I didn\u2019t think about it when I was reading either book.\u00a0 What was your thought when you created Maple?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: I love Maple\u2019s brain. I didn\u2019t set out to create her to fit any particular diagnostic profile; her personality just emerged as I wrote. I also enjoy her lack of filter. It gets her in trouble sometimes but also is kind of her best asset. You always know where you stand with Maple.<\/p>\n

Q: I really like the time period and setting, which is unusual.\u00a0 Why set your books just post war?\u00a0 What called to you about that time?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Like many readers, I\u2019m a big fan of WWII-era historical fiction. However, I haven\u2019t read too much that is set immediately after the war. I think the time period suits my series because Maple is picking up the pieces of her own life and starting over on a personal level while the whole world pretty much has to do the same.<\/p>\n

Q: In this book Maple creates some scenes of the fire that is the murder scene in the book.\u00a0 Did you base this on one of Frances Lee\u2019s real creations?\u00a0 How about the way she tests the fire on the nutshells she creates?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: The Nutshell that inspired the plot of Murder in Miniature<\/em> is called \u201cBurned Cabin<\/a>\u201d and depicts pretty much the same scene Maple, Kenny, and Sheriff Scott find when they arrive at the scene. To my knowledge, Frances Glessner Lee didn\u2019t test the fire the way Maple does in this book; that came from my imagination as I was thinking of ways the Nutshell could be central to the plot in a different way than the one she made in the first book was.<\/p>\n

Q: You also take Maple out of rural Vermont back to her childhood home of Boston, where she lost her brother.\u00a0 How important was it to you to resolve some of the issues Maple has with her brother\u2019s death?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: It was really important to me. As I was writing the first book, Jamie kept coming up in my thoughts and making his way onto the page; that\u2019s how I knew he was so important to Maple. I like the idea of the detective character who solves other people\u2019s murders, but is haunted by the mysterious unsolved death of someone they care about (Harry Bosch and his mother, for example). I wanted Maple\u2019s emotional arc to center around Jamie in this book.<\/p>\n

Q: How about the police scene in Boston?\u00a0 In this book you fold in some more high powered crimes \u2013 and criminals \u2013 than in the first novel, and part of the focus is a busy Boston police station.\u00a0 Can you talk about that a bit?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A: I knew Maple would have to return to the place where she grew up, and in order to force her to go back\u2013because she probably wouldn\u2019t have chosen to do so on her own\u2013I knew the primary mystery in the book would have to lead her there. Then, she\u2019d have the opportunity to also delve into the circumstances around her brother\u2019s death. I also really liked the idea of plopping Maple and Kenny into an environment very different from their small town and watching them struggle with that contrast.<\/p>\n

Q: You take on some present-day issues in your books \u2013 sexism and racism \u2013 and manage to make those issues of the period, not anachronistic.\u00a0 Maple is a trained lawyer, for example, though she doesn\u2019t practice.\u00a0 Can you talk about the sexism she encounters, and how many female lawyers would there have been in post WWII Boston?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: More than there were in Elderberry, but still not many! Maple resents the fact that she can\u2019t get hired as a lawyer, but in this book her two closest colleagues (both men) really value her professional opinions. It was important to me to show that as well as the frustrations and obstacles she faced.<\/p>\n

Q: The mystery plot line is well crafted and pretty tricky.\u00a0 What helped you to learn about plotting a solid mystery?\u00a0 Who were your influences?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Thank you! I love Michael Connelly and Jacqueline Winspear, who both weave mysteries with a lot of heart behind them. In terms of craft, I found two books especially helpful: Save the Cat! Writes a Novel<\/em><\/a> by Jessica Brody and Story Genius<\/em><\/a> by Lisa Cron. They both explore the psychology behind storytelling in fascinating ways.<\/p>\n

Q: Can you name a book you found transformational, either as a reader or a writer?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: I\u2019m currently reading We Begin at the End <\/em><\/a>by Chris Whitaker and am absolutely blown away by his writing. He had me emotionally invested in all the characters from the moment they appeared on the page, and now I\u2019m wringing my hands and worrying about them. I\u2019m planning to read everything this author writes!<\/p>\n

Q: What\u2019s next for Maple?\u00a0 What can readers look forward to in book 3?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Definitely more dead bodies and miniatures! Some consistent feedback I have gotten from the first two books is that readers really want to see more of Maple actually doing the work of crafting the nutshells. You can also count on the rich cast of secondary characters continuing to play important roles and on further antics from Mack the cat and Frank the dachshund. Don\u2019t worry, though\u2013I will never hurt the pets!<\/p>\n

Thanks Katie!\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

*********<\/p>\n

Katie Tietjen<\/strong>\u00a0is an award-winning writer, teacher, and school librarian. A Frances Glessner Lee enthusiast, she\u2019s traveled thousands of miles to visit her homes, see her nutshells, and even attend her birthday party. Katie lives in New England with her husband and two sons. The Mary Higgins Clark Award-nominated\u00a0Death in the Details<\/em>\u00a0is her first novel; the next book in the Maple Bishop series,\u00a0Murder in Miniature<\/em>, is slated for publication in September 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was a huge fan of Katie Tietjen’s first novel, Death in the Details,\u00a0which follows war widow Maple Bishop just after the war has ended.\u00a0 Maple is living in a tiny Vermont town and, though she’s a trained lawyer, ends up piecing together a living selling the dollhouses she creates.\u00a0 She also makes “nutshells,”\u00a0 tiny … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[943,2263,1927,1636,2262,2264,1276],"class_list":["post-6650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-crooked-lane-books","tag-frances-glessner-lee","tag-interview","tag-katie-tietjen","tag-murder-in-miniature","tag-nutshell-crime-scenes","tag-robin-agnew"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6650"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6664,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650\/revisions\/6664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}