Author Lois Winston on Cozy Mystery Books vs. the Mind-boggling World of Minecraft

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By Lois Winston

Image by InoxyBuild from Pixabay

There was a time when I enjoyed fantasy, science fiction, and even some horror. The summer before ninth grade, I discovered The Lord of the Rings trilogy and read all three books within a few weeks. The books of Ira Levin, Arthur C. Clarke, and Tom Tryon filled my spare time throughout high school and into college, in-between assigned literary works like Moby Dick and The Bell Jar.

I also like to think that I have a decent knowledge of current events and trends, although I have no interest in following most of those trends. I can still kill it on Jeopardy most nights, though I’ll admit, the answers aren’t coming at the same rapid speed they once did. The brain is a muscle, and with the inevitability of growing old, all muscles, no matter how much you exercise them, start slowing down with age.

But then there’s Minecraft. My eight and ten-year-old grandsons are obsessed with it. They play it as much as they’re allowed, and when they’ve used up their screen time for the day, they either read Minecraft books or talk about Minecraft incessantly.

And I just don’t get it. Not their obsession. I get obsessions. I had plenty of my own throughout childhood and even into adulthood. My obsessions haven’t ceased. I recently became obsessed with West Wing, a show I had never watched back in the day, but I spent hours binge-watching the entire seven seasons in the autumn and early winter of 2024.

What I don’t get is Minecraft. I’ve tried. I’ve watched my grandsons play and listened to their explanation of the rules. I’ve read aloud chapters in their Minecraft books. But try as I might, I can’t wrap my brain around what strikes me as very random and odd rules concerning assorted worlds, cauldrons, emeralds, ores, ender dragons, wizards, witches, elder guardians, blocky animals, trees that don’t look like trees, and mining fatigue. And those are just a few of the oddities. It’s enough to make my head spin. It really bothers me that I seem completely incapable, even after hours of tutelage, of grasping the most rudimentary aspects of Minecraft. 😵‍💫

Perhaps Minecraft makes perfect sense to the pre-pubescent brain because they’re more open to wonderous possibilities. After all, they still believe in Santa Claus. It’s probably best that I stick to my own imaginary world of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. The murder and mayhem I throw at my reluctant amateur sleuth in my cozy mystery books makes far more sense to me than the pixelated world of Minecraft ever will.

What about you? Is there something about modern culture or trends that leaves you stymied and scratching your head? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free download of any of the currently available Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery audiobooks.

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USA Today and Amazon bestselling author Lois Winston began her award-winning writing career with Talk Gertie to Me, a humorous fish-out-of-water novel about a small-town girl going off to the big city and the mother determined to bring her home to marry the boy next door. That was followed by the romantic suspense Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception.

Then Lois’s writing segued unexpectedly into the world of humorous amateur sleuth mysteries, thanks to a conversation her agent had with an editor looking for craft-themed mysteries. In her day job, Lois was an award-winning craft and needlework designer, and although she’d never written a mystery—or had even thought about writing a mystery—her agent decided she was the perfect person to pen a series for this editor.

Thus, was born the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, which Kirkus Reviews dubbed “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” The series now includes fourteen novels and three novellas. Lois also writes the Empty Nest Mysteries and has written several standalone mystery novellas. Other publishing credits include romance, chick lit, and romantic suspense novels, a series of romance short stories, a children’s chapter book, and a nonfiction book on writing, inspired by her twelve years working as an associate at a literary agency. Her latest release is Seams Like the Perfect Crime, the fourteenth Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery.

Learn more about Lois and her books at www.loiswinston.com where you can find links for her other social media sites and sign up for her newsletter to receive a free download of an Anastasia Pollack Mini-Mystery.

Trolls: Character vs. Caricature When Writing Suspects and Antagonists in Mysteries

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What do trolls have to do with writing suspects and antagonists in mysteries?

Trolls?

 

Trolls: Nasty creatures who live under bridges.

Trolls: Nasty people who bully others on social media.

Trolls: Weird looking collectibles from the 1960s (now the stars of animated movies.)

Trolls: Kristoff’s fun-loving adoptive family in Frozen

Trolls: Amazing works of art from recycled materials by Thomas Dambo.

I first learned of Thomas Dambo’s work when I saw a news story about him and his art installations made of recycled materials. He’s considered the world’s leading recycling artist with his work appearing throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. His more than 125 larger-than-life trolls were created to share his environmental message throughout the world in outdoor installations that use trash to create art within nature.

The trolls have noticed that “small people” (us humans) are harming the planet. The goal of these giant trolls is to educate humans, whereby they’ll rediscover nature and become thoughtful, caring stewards of our planet. A more positive message than those other trolls who frequent social media, right?

Six of Dambo’s trolls took up residence within the gardens, trees, and wooded areas of the Cheekwood Estate & Gardens in Nashville during this past spring and summer. I was lucky enough to have the chance to visit with them. They’ve since moved on to spend time at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach, VA through Jan 20, 2025. If you have a chance to visit with them, tell them I said hi.

So what do these trolls have to do with writing mysteries? Actually, quite a lot. When we think of trolls, most of us think of ugly, nasty creatures, either real or fictional. But both Thomas Dambo’s recycled trolls, Kristoff’s adopted family, and those weird bygone mini collectables showed us that not all trolls are nasty and that ugly is subjective.

Also, the best villains or antagonists are multi-layered. If they weren’t, they’d be caricatures rather than characters, and no author should be writing Snidely Whiplash-type cardboard villains. That’s why it’s so important to spend as much time developing the goals, motivations, and conflicts of our suspects in our mysteries as we do our protagonists.

We’re often asked who is our favorite fictional sleuth, but who is your favorite fictional suspect or antagonist? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free download of any one of the first eleven audiobooks in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series.

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USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website www.loiswinston.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her on various social media sites.

Stop! You’re Hurting My Eyes!

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By Lois Winston

One day when my oldest son was two years old, I was singing to him in the car when he covered his ears with his hands and cried, “Stop singing, Mommy. You’re hurting my ears.”

It turns out he was born with perfect pitch, while I was saddled with two tin ears. Ever since I failed to make the cut when I auditioned for the elementary school talent show, I’ve known my singing leaves quite a lot to be desired. I’m no Taylor Swift or Beyonce. Never was and never will be. I wouldn’t even qualify as a backup singer for a third-rate tribute band. However, I never realized until that moment just how off-key I was.

Lately, I’ve felt the urge to rant at car manufacturers for hurting my eyes the way my singing had hurt my son’s ears. Have you noticed the garish colors of so many new cars? Some are the equivalent of chalk on a blackboard, shrieking and shrill, while others can only be described as homages to the scatological. What were they thinking? We’re living in a world that bombards us 24/7, causing us to yearn for anything soothing, whether it’s soft clothing, comfort foods, or escapist fiction.

The psychology of color is big business. Color experts get paid big bucks to determine which colors should be used in everything from clothing to home décor to appliances to automobiles. If you’re old enough to remember the sixties (or have a penchant for anything mid-century modern), you know that harvest gold and avocado green were the two colors that reigned supreme back then. Do you think it was a coincidence that your mother’s appliances matched your father’s station wagon? Those color choices were dictated by people deemed authorities in the field.

Has psychology done an about-face? If the screaming oranges, greens, and yellows aren’t bad enough, the other group is awful in another way. I really don’t want to drive around in a vehicle that reminds me of the last time I changed a diaper or hovered over the porcelain throne with stomach flu.

I wish some knowledgeable person would tell me what in the world were these so-called experts thinking. I’m flummoxed.

How about you? What do you think about the colors of automobiles you see on the roads lately? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free download of the audiobook version of Drop Dead Ornaments, the seventh Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery.

 

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USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website www.loiswinston.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her on various social media sites.

RIP, Mac

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By Lois Winston

Sometimes, there are no warning signs, no odd symptoms that crop up which would make us suspect something is not quite right. Such was not the case with Mac. Nothing made me question his health, nothing that would lead me to seek out the services of an expert. One moment, he was fine; the next he wasn’t. Worse yet, he failed to respond to all my efforts to make him well.

This all happened three weeks ago. Mac and I had been in a deeply committed relationship for ten years. I wasn’t ready to let him go. So I picked up the phone and scheduled an appointment for a full diagnostic workup. Surely, whatever the problem, something would make him better.

After arriving, I was asked about his prior symptoms. When I said he’d had none, the diagnostician showed surprise. She rattled off a series of the usual suspects, to which I answered in the negative for each one. She shook her head in disbelief. I suspect she thought I was too ignorant to recognize obvious signs of impending illness. I ignored her condescension. I needed her expertise to heal Mac.

When I asked what she thought might be the problem, she offered possible afflictions, some with remedies but others that were fatal. I crossed my fingers as she spent the next hour and a half performing a litany of tests to determine why Mac had suddenly become comatose.

The test results confirmed my worst fears. Mac had suffered a catastrophic failure. Both his hard drive and battery were dead.

I think the ratio of computer years to human years must be greater than that of dog years to human years. However, even if it’s the same, that would have made Mac seventy years old. Ancient as far as my millennial diagnostician was concerned, but I’m at the stage of my life where I no longer consider seventy old. Still, I suppose ten years is considered ancient for a computer, even one as stalwart as Mac had been.

Mac had served me well. During our time together, we’d written nine novels, five novellas, several short stories, one nonfiction book, and countless blog posts. We’d edited two multi-author promotional charity cookbooks and two multi-author box sets.

However, it was time to lay Mac to rest, sending him off to the big Apple in the sky. RIP, Mac. But really, after all we’ve been through together, he couldn’t have died a day earlier before the weekend state sales tax holiday ended?

Scrapbook of Murder, the sixth book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series, is now available as an audiobook. Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free download.

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website www.loiswinston.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her on various social media sites.