Welcome to Vicki’s Cozy Corner

I thought I would start my first post by telling you a little about me. A Midwesterner by birth, I was born in Illinois and lived in the Chicago suburbs until recently when my husband and I packed up and moved to an area known as the Dark Corner in South Carolina. Our home has an amazing view of Glassy and Hogback Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge escarpment. My office window looks out over the mountains and is a clear departure from the flatlands of Illinois.

My orange cat Pixel and me

A former journalist, during the day I am managing editor for a peer-reviewed medical journal, meaning that I neither edit nor write. I currently write cozy mysteries under my maiden name: Vicki Vass. I have two series, the Antique Hunter Mysteries, loosely based on my two best friends, and Witch Cat Mysteries, a paranormal series. I also have a post-apocalyptic science fiction book, Oxygen, inspired by my travels to Sudan, Africa, for World Relief.

I have been writing since I could read. After seeing my older brother with books, I began to read at age 4 and I remember jotting down stories as a young child. My second grade English project was a short story titled The Mystery of the Topaz, a tribute to Nancy Drew. My parents encouraged me in my reading — there were always books in our house and I devoured them whether they were my mother’s copies of Dorothy Eden, Phyllis Whitney or even Jane Austen — I had read all of Jane Austen by sixth grade. Or my father’s westerns by Louis L’Amour — I particularly liked the ones centered on the Sackett family. I even read my brother’s science fiction including Isaac Asimov and the Planet of the Apes series. There was never enough to read nor was there enough time.

As I grew older, college and then working a full time replaced my time for reading. I read less and less. There never seemed to be enough time except for now since moving I have rediscovered my love for reading and my house is once again strewn with books. I have a wall of bookshelves in my office all containing books that I have yet to read along with a few favorites. I picked up an almost complete set of the Nancy Drew 1970s books at a garage sale for $5. In my bedroom is a bookshelf filled with books that I have yet to read. I have joined three book clubs and am adding books as the clubs pick their titles. Some of my recent favorite reads include, We Were the Lucky Ones: A Novel, Daisy Jones & The Six: A Novel and Finding Dorothy: A Novel. I plan to share my reads with you on this blog and hope that you will share with me as well.

My garage sale find

Besides reading, I love to cook. My mother worked during the day, unusual back in the 1970s when I was growing up, and my father let me explore in the kitchen. I learned to make lasagne at an early age along with crepes. I enjoyed experimenting and tasting the interaction of different foods and flavor combinations. Now I love to watch Top Chef and almost anything on the Food Network.

Over the years, I have found that I am not so good at imagining recipes as I am at following them. I can make an awesome crab-stuffed crepe with a cheese sauce or three-tier chocolate cake as long as all the steps are set out for me but leave me on my own, and it quickly becomes a mess. Currently, I am cooking low carb as I am trying to lose some weight and have found the only way to do that is by eliminating carbs. My go-to recipes include those from Kyndra on Peace, Love and Low Carb. Her chili and balsamic seared chicken with mushrooms recipes are my go-tos. Kasey Trenum also has some excellent recipes including Italian meatball casserole or creamy pork chops with parmesan gravy.

Being in a new area, my husband and I have also found we are eating out more from fine dining to local dives we have tried a variety of restaurants. There are several local restaurants that have become our go-tos. I plan to share some of our culinary adventures, either at home or out, with you.

So, that explains the books and bites part of my tagline, the breaks symbolizes breaks either throughout the day such as wandering through an antique store or a longer vacation such as a recent road trip to Durham, North Carolina. I think we are all entitled to breaks from our everyday routine.

I invite you to join me on this journey and to comment sharing your favorite books, bites and breaks with me.