Visit from author Laura Schaefer

I am thrilled to announce that we are fortunate enough to have another visit to the blog by author Laura Schaefer. You might remember that Laura visited us back in March of 2009 after the release of her book "The Teashop Girls." (My review of that book is here.)

Laura has just released her second book in this great series. "The Secret Ingredient" hit bookstores this week and Laura agreed to answer a few questions for us.

This is part of Laura's "blog tour" to celebrate the release of the book. You can see some of her other stops here: "Read, Write, Repeat" on June 28, "Mrs. Katz Book Blurbs" on June 29, and at "International Tea Moment" on July 1.

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AN(OTHER) INTERVIEW WITH LAURA SCHAEFER

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Welcome, Laura. It is great to have you back. I'm very excited to see your new book. 

 The first book in this series, "The Teashop Girls," was set in the Steeping Leaf teashop. Where do we find Annie, Genna, and Zoe as we enter "The Secret Ingredient"?
Writing the opening scene of the new book was so fun. It begins on a Saturday at the Madison, Wisconsin farmers' market (www.dcfm.org) on the capitol square. I go as often as I can throughout the season, and I love it. Anyway, "The Secret Ingredient" begins about two months after "The Teashop Girls" ended. It's the middle of the summer before ninth grade (high school! Augh!). Annie and Zoe are shopping for ingredients for a baking contest Annie has just entered, when Genna finds them in the crowd. She's home from theater camp a bit early, so as you can imagine, the girls are thrilled to be reunited, and still have a few weeks to enjoy together before school.

We're anxious to hear what everyone is up to in your new book. Can you tell us a bit about what we'll find in this latest edition?Annie is baking her heart out, inventing new scone recipes, and running a brand new food blog. Zoe has started volunteering at a community garden and is learning all about local food, so she's happy to help Annie with her recipes. Genna is consumed by a long-distance romance and seems to have stopped eating healthfully. As you can see, the whole book is about food! Zach has taken to hanging out at The Steeping Leaf almost every day to bother Annie--that is, until he kisses her out of the blue. It's all very exciting. ;-) So fun to write!

I read that Annie is in a scone bake-off with one of the teashop suppliers in this book. Is baking a big interest of yours? If you were in such a contest, what scone would you make?I enjoy baking, but the truth is, I was as much of a newbie as Annie. I made some scones that didn't work, and I had to remake them until I got the hang of it. Baking can be a very relaxing hobby, especially in the wintertime, which is when I was putting a lot of these recipes together. If I were in such a contest, I'd probably make a savory scone with lots of delicious Wisconsin cheese.

Do you find the books easier or harder to write as the girls begin to get a little older? Why? 

I found this book quite easy to write. I already know these characters, so some scenes were written at typing speed. Of course, it all needed revisions and added details, but the book just kind of tumbled out of me. I have a good editor and an outline to thank for that, I think. Also, the girls have only aged two months, even though I've aged three years since the last book. No fair!

You used amazing graphics in your last book - images of tea advertisements. Do you employ any of the same techniques with this latest book? 

YES! I loved including all my "tea extras" last time, and I wanted to do it again. Now, however, the between-chapters material has a new feel, because each page is from Annie's food blog. Some of the entries are recipes, some are vintage ads, there's one interview with a pro baker...it was all very fun to put together. The only thing difficult about it for me was getting the time stamps correct within the timeline of the story. I think I have some sort of chronology block because my poor editor Alexandra had to redo my efforts. Thanks, Alex!

Oh, and I found all new tea quotes for the chapter beginnings. I think between "The Teashop Girls" and "The Secret Ingredient," I tracked down or invented about sixty tea quotes. If I write a third book, I'm not sure what I'll do about finding quotes. They've all been found!

Finally, the question I always have to ask (although I admit that I already know a bit about your answer!): Can you tell us briefly about your favorite tea memory? 

I recently did a blog post about a fond Florida tea memory that you initially read two years ago, but I want to actually talk about something else. When The Teashop Girls came out, I didn't really know anything about the "tea community," as it were, and I want to thank everyone who has been so kind to me. Lots of tea shops did events, sent delicious samples, reviewed the book online, purchased the book, or just generally made me feel awesome. What an amazing group of people. Every time I got a kind note or met a new tea lover, I made a nice new memory. It's super cool to get to do this all over again. I look forward to meeting and connecting with more tea people. They're the greatest!

Thank you for having me to your blog. :-)

Warmest regards,

Laura