Bonjour!
Mocha Von Bee is from Ireland and lives in France. She writes YA fiction, mostly set in Ireland and inspired by Celtic legend. She also records her own audio at home.
YA Thriller Con
If you would like to find out more about writing YA Mystery, check out this discussion ‘How Dark is TOO Dark?’ with an awesome group of writers from YA Thriller Con (July 2022)
Some Of My Faves!
Mocha Von Bee’s Selection of YA Mystery/Thrillers

Truly Devious
Maureen Johnson

The Darkest Corners
Kara Thomas

See All The Stars
Kit Frick

The Rhythm of My Soul
Madeline Dyer
Ask Me Anything!
Q&A with Mocha Von Bee
Is your series, KIT & TULLY, how you first envisioned it? If not, how far off is it from the original concept?
There have been a number of different versions. Kit and Tully actually started out as one novel, a Young Adult Mystery, probably around 2016, I think. But then I wrote a prequel in 2019. That gave me the idea of expanding it into a series in 2020. The prequel turned into First Kiss – Kit and Tully Book 1 and the story continues from there. There are 9 books in total. It’s been a very long journey of trial and error, but yes! Kit and Tully has ended up being the story I wanted to tell.
How do you sketch characters? Are they based on real people?
Pretty much all my characters have something about them I like or find interesting, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to write them. My favourite one to write though is probably Mac Whitehead. He’s the bad boy musician that all the girls are mad about, though he’s not a nice character and he’s horrible to everyone. But I find him great fun to write and any time I feel the story is getting a bit slow or needs to be livened up, I just bring Mac Whitehead into it, and he immediately causes drama.
What’s the best way to market your books?
Marketing is a struggle for most authors. We tend to be introverts who like hiding away and writing. So, even though we want readers, we aren’t so good at telling people about our work. However the internet has given writers lots of new opportunities to find readers and nowadays everything is on your phone. Serial apps like Wattpad have helped create this whole culture of reading on your phone, and it’s very international. My audience is mostly younger, under 25, and I think a lot of them read on phones, so I want to have all my books on Apple Books and Google Play and I find the idea of getting readers from all over the world really exciting.
Why did you choose to be a writer?
Of course it is a choice, but I think it comes from a need or a desire to create. And also to find an audience for that creation. I mean you could just write and never show it to anybody and be very happy doing that. But I think, if you want actually to be a writer, you need people to read it, same as if you’re an artist, you want people to see your paintings or its you’re a musician, you want people to hear your music. Or if you’re an athlete and you spend all that time training, you want to compete in your sport.
What would you like to say to the new writers out there?
There are lots of stories of overnight success but, when you look a bit closer, that overnight success might have been ten years in the making, so be patient and don’t give up!
What do you need with you to write?
My computer. Seriously struggle to write on a phone or even a tablet… And music… Here’s a link to my 90s Playlist for Kit and Tully Book 1.
Find out what Kit thought when she first met Tully!
FIRST SUMMER is a bonus companion to FIRST KISS, told from Kit’s point of view.
Find out about Kit’s first impressions of Tully
Discover what her home life is really like
And her friendship with Felice and Spike
Get Kit’s take on Aonghus…
Join my Mailing List and get FIRST SUMMER, an Exclusive Kit & Tully Bonus in your Inbox!