HOAs: Miss Marple Would Fit Right In

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Dear Stiletto Gang Readers and Contributors: No surprise here, I’m traveling again and it’s my day to blog.  I do have an outstanding surprise for you. My dear friend Author Linda Lovely is here in my stead to promote her HOA Mystery series and upcoming release, A Killer App available on November 7th. Please welcome Linda Lovely to The Stiletto Gang! ~ Donnell Ann Bell

HOAs—Miss Marple Would Fit Right In

Author Linda Lovely

By Linda Lovely

Where might Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple hang her hat if she were teleported to the U.S. in 2023? Where could the snoop find the ambience of sleepy St Mary Mead? Where could the spinster sniff out villains among her neighbors?

Some 355,000 common-interest communities offer Miss Marple condo, coop, and homeowner association (HOA) choices aplenty. Societal heirs to yesteryear’s villages—HOAs are now home to 74 million people.

And they make ideal settings for mysteries. If neighbors don’t actually know each other, they’ve heard whispers about the folks they’ve yet to meet. When a murder occurs, the rumor mill makes it easy to churn out suspect lists.

Plus, the inevitable power struggles provide motives and subplots. Think the GOP House of Representatives’ current infighting on a more intimate scale. Who backs more rules and restrictions? Who wants to scale them back? Who favors special assessments to add pickleball courts? Who thinks annual dues are too high?

These power struggles take on real emotional weight if changes directly impact an owner’s home—his or her castle. For instance, how would you feel if a dog park was proposed for the vacant lot next to your house?

Once I decided to write an HOA Mystery series, I knew the crimes couldn’t be confined to a single HOA. After all, who’d want to live in a place like Cabot Cove with its sky-high homicide rate?

To solve that problem, my heroine, Kylee Kane, works for a friend’s HOA management firm. The company has a dozen HOA clients in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Kylee, a retired Coast Guard investigator, has the experience and skills to be a realistic sleuth when trouble surfaces in any of these tight-knit enclaves.

Are HOA management companies common? I was somewhat surprised that only 35 percent of HOAs are run by volunteers. The rest leave the nitty-gritty work to 8,500 firms that specialize in managing HOAs.

Guess it shouldn’t be a shock. Owners who hold full-time jobs aren’t eager to pile more responsibilities on their plates, while retirees may feel they’ve earned the right to relax and travel. By and large, owners in both categories don’t want to prepare budgets, collect fees, manage landscape vendors, assess fines, or force neighbors to tear down a fence that doesn’t meet specs or repaint shutters an approved shade of green.

Of course, a few people LOVE to file complaints against neighbors over nitpick infractions. Guess that’s one reason that 2021 saw 263 complaints filed against 180 different HOAs in South Carolina, where my HOA Mystery series is set.

Like almost any group with more than two people, HOAs can hatch conflict. There’s no guarantee the folks who elect to buy in seaside HOAs will have a shared vision of an ideal community. Some will want to specify which plants are permitted and how many can be planted in a yard. Others will want to install vegetable gardens and native plants.

Some folks will view all trees, especially Palmetto and pine trees, as view-blocking weeds to be cut down. Nature lovers will strive to protect the trees for erosion control and wildlife habitat. As a result, cliques form, gossip passes for gospel, and outcasts long for revenge.

I’ve asked readers to tell me about HOA rules they find unreasonable. I’ve been told the ones listed below appear in the bylaws of at least one HOA.

  • Multicolored outdoor holiday lights are banned. Is the Grinch the enforcer?
  • Owners are only allowed to keep garage doors open five-minutes. Who mans the egg timer?
  • All drapes and window coverings must have white linings facing the outside. What happens if Joe Blow takes down all window coverings in protest and parades in his birthday suit?
  • If an owner wants to sell a home, he must pay the HOA to display a For Sale sign. Said sign can only be appear in an interior window.

While few of us hang out with rock stars, hitmen, or bitcoin tycoons, we know our neighbors—from the quietly heroic to the bullies. Familiar characters and homeowner passions make it easy for readers to relate to HOA tales.

I do attempt to showcase well-run HOAs as well as those in constant upheaval. The difference? Usually it’s the individuals who serve on the board. Did they run to push personal agendas? Or do they want to listen to neighbors and search for consensus on important issues?

My main goal in writing My HOA Mystery series is to entertain. (Okay, there is the bonus of killing off stand-ins for the types of folks who annoy me.) But I also hope my mysteries spotlight strategies to promote peace and harmony within HOAs.

About the Book:

Deepfakes Can Be Murder

Kylee Kane, a security consultant for Welch HOA Management, finds the first victim, Andy Fyke, crumpled at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Kylee suspects his fall’s no accident and is tied to Andy’s campaign to prohibit rentals in his Hilton Head Island community. Yet, Andy’s obvious enemies have ironclad alibis.

When another Lowcountry HOA retiree dies in a hit-and-run boat tragedy, Kylee begins to think the incidents are linked—even though the victims and their assailants have little in common.

The link is the Chameleon, an Artificial Intelligence expert, who can create a deepfake of almost anyone—living or dead. Even more frightening is the Chameleon’s ability to seek out disturbed souls and laser-focus their rage. A talent employed to compel subjects to act as surrogate assassins.

When Kylee begins to pursue the Chameleon, the AI expert decides it’s time to groom an assassin to permanently sideline Kylee.

You can learn more about Linda Lovely and/or sign up for her newsletter at Welcome (lindalovely.com)

 

In Search of Moose, Part II by Rosalie Spielman

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Please join me in welcoming Rosalie Spielman to the blog! Her wonderful publisher is
donating a portion of the proceeds of her newest book, MURDER COMES HOME, to the DAV.

Details below. — Shari

There’s a common joke with mystery writers about their computer search histories being arrest
worthy should we ever be suspects in real life crimes. Which leads me to reflect on mine.
“moose chin thing?”
“how heavy moose”
“picture moose by minivan”
“video moose losing antler”
“moose herds?”
“How long does leather last when buried”

Okay, well, other than that last one, as you can see, my search history is rather moose heavy.

If you’ve read my Hometown Mysteries, you get why. Magnus the Moose wanders around the
countryside in my stories, presenting himself at opportune times, walking through clotheslines
and &”wearing” a bright red bra on his antler, and in the most recent book, losing an antler.

Of course, I do research to make sure I”m not sharing misleading facts. But also…I like moose.
What can I say? They are weird-looking, but their size is what amazes me and leaves me in awe.

I wrote a blog post last year about my unrequited search for moose on my visits home to Idaho.

The moose is the one creature in the area that has eluded me so far. They are seen
fairly regularly around town, munching away in people’s gardens, in fields,
crossing roads, or creeping about in the trees like a quadrupedal sasquatch. I
even saw a video on Facebook of a moose and her calf moseying right down the
center of Troy’s Main Street.

My father offered to take me to town to look for one after there was a picture in
the paper of a bull moose walking down Moscow’s Main Street. I declined. I
mean, a city moose? Naw.

A month or two ago, there was an emergency text sent to students to give the
moose sighted on [the University of Idaho] campus a wide berth. There were
pictures of a moose peering into the windows of the bookstore and lounging on
the grass in the Arboretum. It seems to me the dang things are everywhere, except
when I’m around.

I go on to say how that about two days after our visit, a moose wandered by my folk’s place. On my next un-moosed visit, I hadn’t even gotten to the airport yet – which is only twenty minutes away – when a moose again made an appearance.

In order to soften the blow, my parents sent me a beautiful painting of a moose walking through a stream. I’ve also been gifted a mug, a stuffed moose, moose lip balm, a moose cookie cutter, moose stickers, and, courtesy my father…a moose poop necklace.

Yes, really, and no, I’m not going to show a photo. Moose droppings are actually pretty when they are fresh – they look exactly like unshelled pecans! But the treatment he had to do to the droppings to make them into a necklace ended up making the droppings look exactly like what popped into your head when I said “poop necklace.” And no, I haven’t worn it. (Sorry, Dad!)

I am headed to Idaho in November for the launch of my third Hometown Mysteries book, Murder Comes Home. I’m actually having my first launch party, right there in the real New Oslo! I think the odds of seeing a moose in the wild on this visit is a little higher than previous.

A month or so ago, they sent this photo of a moose near their home.

 

And a week or two ago, this one, on their game cam:

My mother also sent a video of her talking to a moose (who wasn’t amoosed) through the fence around their house. It was maybe fifteen or twenty feet from her. (She was on her doorstep and could easily go inside should he get ancy.)

I am hoping, fingers and toes crossed, that this dude will still be around when I am there, and I will finally be able to meet Magnus in the flesh. Or, rather, in the fur.

Wish me luck!

And Magnus, I’ll tell you once more – I am making you famous, so you had better make an appearance!

**Gemma Halliday Publishing is donating a portion of the presales to a veterans’ charity, the Disabled American Veterans, or DAV.

7 November 2023: #3 in the Hometown Mysteries, Murder Comes Home

Preorder: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9S126XG

US Army retiree Tessa Treslow and her Aunt Edna put their auto restoration business on hold to host an “American Pickers” style TV show, hoping their trash might be treasure to fun their new business. But not only do the pickers come with cameras and likeable stars, but also a murderer…

Rosalie Spielman is a mother, veteran, and retired military spouse. She was thrilled to discover that she could make other people laugh with her writing and finds joy in giving people a humorous escape from the real world. She writes for the multi-author Aloha Lagoon mystery series and her own Hometown Mystery series.

She currently lives in Maryland with her husband in a rapidly emptying nest. For more information on her books or to subscribe to her newsletter, go to www.rosalie-spielman- author.com, follow her Facebook page (Rosalie Spielman author) or Instagram (Rosalie.Spielman). Rosalie strives to provide you a cozy escape…one page at a time.

Scotland, Setting, and Story

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by Sparkle Abbey

We are just back from an amazing trip to Scotland and so our heads and hearts are full of all of those experiences.  We were there two weeks and still didn’t get to see everything that we wanted to, but we certainly hit most of the high points.

We started in Edinburgh, traveled north to Loch Ness and Inverness, then farther north to Ullapool, the Isle of Skye and the Isle of Lewis. And finally, we headed back south to Loch Lomond, Glasgow and then back to Edinburgh to fly home.

So many fantastic new experiences, so many breathtaking views, so much history.

One of the things that becomes clear when you travel to landscapes that are unlike those you’re used to, is that where we live is all a part of our story. It’s not just where we live. It’s who we are. And that’s very much true in the stories we write as well.

Understanding the place a story is set and how that place plays a part in the mood, the characters, and sometimes even the conflict, is important. And we can certainly see why writers who have chosen Scotland for their setting have been drawn to that atmospheric element of the Scottish landscape.

Culledon

Are there particular settings in books that speak to you? Are there places that you especially enjoy reading about?

As you already know, we usually tend to write stories set near lovely sunny beaches. But don’t be surprised if sometime in the future a wee bit of Scotland creeps into a Sparkle Abbey story.

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.)

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website

 

Clicking Our Heels – Addressing Covid in Our Writing

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Authors are divided on how to handle the pandemic in their writing. Kathy Reichs chose to write a book that referred to it in past tense but played on its fears (The Bone Code), Elizabeth Strout embraced the emotional and behaviors it arose head on, (Lucy by the Sea), while Ann Patchett incorporated it by sly references as to why the family was all at home together (Tom Lake). Here is how Stiletto Gang members are addressing the pandemic/Covid in our writings:

Paula Benson – I have written two short stories that take place during the pandemic. In particular, I deal with families coping with the restrictions upon schools and businesses. The first story, “Covid Christmas Economics,” (here’s the link) had an eight grader struggling with home schooling and watching as his family’s restaurant had to make changes in its schedule. The second story, “Crossfire in the Crosshairs,” (published August 2023 by Dragon Soul Press in A DEATH IN THE NIGHT) had a single mother assassin competing with her ex-husband to take out a mark. As the story points out: “Assasinations remined essential services during Covid 19.”

T.K. Thorne – My current work-in-progress is a suspense novel, The Old Lady. It’s set just after the emergency phase of the pandemic, and my character lost her husband to Covid. Funny, at first I wrote “lost her husband to the disease,” but that sounded too impersonal and I changed it to “Covid.” I also notice I capitalized it, as I would a person’s name. I would not have written “lost her husband to Smallpox.”  I guess having lived through it, this one is personified and personal.

Mary Lee Ashford – As I’m working on the fourth in a series and it hasn’t been mentioned in previous books, I’m not addressing it at all. However, I’m also working on a new series and in that one, I am alluding to it but mostly as a part of our lives today post pandemic but with Covid still an issue. I think it depends on the type of book and the audience so I might feel differently if I was writing in a different sub-genre.

Barbara J. Eikmeier – As a writer I haven’t addressed Covid at all but as a reader I feel like a lot of books that were written during the stay home part of the pandemic are now releasing. I always read the author’s notes at the end and appreciate their sharing of their struggles to complete books while schooling children and sharing workspace with spouses or while working in seclusion.

Joyce Woolcutt – I have addressed it by cleverly setting my books before it started. Any new ones, afterwards.

Linda Rodriguez – I’m not currently, because my reading of the zeitgeist is that people aren’t ready to read about it yet.

Debra H. Goldstein – Other than a short story written from the viewpoint of a doctor with Covid for a Covid fundraising anthology, I haven’t had the opportunity to incorporate the pandemic into my current work.

Bethany Maines – During COVID and directly after, I did feel like readers did NOT want to read about it since they were experiencing it too intimately in real life.  However, as we have moved forward, I’m mentioning it as part of the background of my contemporary stories. For example, I might say, “During the pandemic was the only time traffic had been light.”  I don’t see any reason not to mention as we continue to deal with the fallout.

 Saralyn Richard – During Covid lockdown, writing a mystery novel was my salvation, but since I didn’t know what the future held in terms of life changes resulting from the pandemic, I chose to set the book pre-pandemic. In subsequent books I allude to the pandemic (the elephant in the room) in small ways, such as having a character explain why she didn’t host parties for a time, or having a character wear a mask. Since Covid has profoundly marked our generation, I feel it’s wrong to ignore it, but I also don’t give it full reign over my stories.

Lois Winston – Because I write humorous cozy mysteries, I made the decision early into the pandemic that I would not address Covid. My books are meant as an escape from the problems of the real world. In addition, although my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series is now up to twelve books, the series has spanned less than two years in the life of my sleuth and her family. Even if I’d wanted to shoehorn Covid into the series arc, it wouldn’t have worked.

Kathryn Lane – My Nikki Garcia mystery – Missing in Miami – has Nikki traveling to Cuba to investigate a missing teenager. I decided to include a minor amount of Covid in that book since the pandemic, like an unpleasant visitor, has stayed around way too long.

Dru Ann Love – As a reader, I prefer not to read about the pandemic, especially in detail. A mention that it happened would work.

Lynn McPherson – I don’t address it as I don’t like to read about it either.

 

 

 

A Hobbit House!

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The mountainous terrain of northern New Mexico, where my husband and I spend our summers, makes me aware of J.R.R. Tolkien’s clever way of segmenting Middle Earth into various regions. I’ve let my imagination fly thinking that he set up different regions, and their diverse inhabitants, by using mountain ranges and valleys to map out Middle Earth. With New Mexico’s diverse cultural heritage, I can imagine that Tolkien’s elves, dwarves, men, hobbits, ents, orcs, and trolls might have been created, each group with their unique characteristics, by studying various cultures and then adding a good measure of fantasy.

Of course, Tolkien was British, not New Mexican, and he was probably inspired by the various European cultures and terrain. Middle Earth, the main continent in his fictional fantasy, was set in a period more than six thousand years ago – so adding fantasy to the saga was essential.

Fascinated by Tolkien’s imagination, I let my own inspiration wander through the mountains and the cultures of New Mexico and surmised that a creative mind can entangle extraordinary stories set in the Land of Enchantment. Especially if the stories are set in the ancient past or centuries in the future!

Back to the present: This summer, a good friend invited me to see a ‘unique’ house. I never envisioned I would be dropped into Middle Earth to experience a hobbit house. Little did my friend know that I love Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the prequel to Lord of the Rings, where the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, is hired by the wizard Gandolf to reclaim the treasure from the dragon Smaug.

The house we visited is known in its neighborhood as The Hobbit House. Even more fascinating is the fact that the owners built their Middle Earth abode using materials taken from the land where they were building.

Their daughter, an architect, prepared the blueprints. She assisted in tree cutting, testing the clay content in the soil, and manufacturing the adobe bricks and puddled adobe used in the construction. As you can see from the exterior and interior photos, they constructed a wonderful home. Imagine building your own and creating such a beauty!

***

Credits: All photos by Kathryn Lane

About Kathryn:

Kathryn Lane writes mystery and suspense novels usually set in foreign countries. In her award-winning Nikki Garcia Mystery Series, her protagonist is a private investigator based in Miami. Her latest publication is a coming-of-age novel, Stolen Diary, about a socially awkward math genius.

For her writing, Kathryn draws inspiration from her travels in over ninety countries as well as her life in Mexico, Australia, Argentina, and the United States.

She also dabbles in poetry, an activity she pursues during snippets of creative renewal. In the summer and fall, Kathryn and her husband, Bob Hurt, escape to the mountains of northern New Mexico where she finds inspiration for her writing.

Personal website kathryn-lane.com

Latest novel: Stolen Diary – a coming-of-age mystery.

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSHFRD11

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Diary-Kathryn-Lane/dp/1735463833/

 

Cozy up for fall reading

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As the leaves turn vibrant shades of red and gold and the air becomes crisp and inviting, there’s no better time to cozy up with a good book than during the fall season. To enhance your reading experience and immerse yourself fully in the autumn atmosphere, consider creating the perfect fall reading space—a cozy nook that invites you to escape into the world of stories while surrounded by the warmth and charm of the season.

Whether you’re able to dedicate a space solely for reading or you have to create a reading corner somewhere in your home, these five tips will help you make your reading spot perfect for fall.

I’d like to share five tips with you on creating that cozy reading spot today. Ready?

 Comfy Seating:

  • Find a comfortable chair or a plush armchair with soft cushions. You want a seat that invites you to sink in and stay a while. Add a cozy throw blanket for added comfort and warmth.

Fall-Themed Decor:

  • To infuse your reading nook/space with the spirit of fall, decorate it with autumn-inspired decor. Here are some ideas:
    • Pillows and Throws: Adorn your chair with throw pillows featuring fall colors and patterns like leaves, pumpkins, or plaid.
    • Foliage and Wreaths: Hang a fall wreath on the wall or incorporate faux autumn leaves and branches into your decor.
    • Candles: Place scented candles with fall fragrances like cinnamon, apple, or pumpkin spice on nearby surfaces. Be sure to practice safety when using candles.
    • Seasonal Artwork: Hang or lean fall-themed artwork or prints on the walls to bring in the colors and aesthetics of autumn.

A Side Table:

  • A small side table or bookshelf is essential for holding your current book, a hot beverage, or reading glasses. Decorate it with a vase of autumn flowers or a mini pumpkin arrangement.

Portable Reading Materials:

  • Suggest using portable reading materials like e-readers or audiobooks. These can be enjoyed anywhere in the house, from the kitchen table to a cozy corner of the bedroom.

Reading Caddy:

  • Recommend the use of a reading caddy or tote bag to keep all reading essentials in one place. This makes it easy to move around the house and read wherever they feel comfortable.

And here’s the little pup who makes every area of our home cozy. She’s the perfect reading companion (when she’s not stealing socks). 🙂

 

Do you have a dedicated reading spot in your home? If so, tell us about it. Do you have any tips for creating a cozy reading nook? If you don’t have a dedicated space, where do you primarily read?

 

 

 

Debra Sennefelder is the author of the Food Blogger Mystery series and the Resale Boutique Mystery series.

She lives and writes in Connecticut. When she’s not writing, she enjoys baking, exercising and taking long walks with her Shih-Tzu, Connie.

You can keep in touch with Debra through her website, on Facebook and Instagram.

 

 

 

Native Bound Unbound by Juliana Aragón Fatula

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Juliana Aragón Fatula, a 2022 Corn Mother, women who have earned accolades for community activism and creative endeavors is the author of: Crazy Chicana in Catholic City, Red Canyon Falling on Churches, winner of the High Plains Book Award for Poetry 2016, and a chapbook: The Road I Ride Bleeds, and a member of Colorado Alliance of Latino Mentors and Authors, and Macondo, “a community of accomplished writers…whose bonds reflect the care and generosity of its membership.” She mentors for Bridging Borders, a Teen Leadership Program for girls. No justice no peace.

Dear Reader,

The month of September for me includes numerous birthdays and my wedding anniversary on September 26th. This year marks my 31st anniversary with my amazing husband, Vinny. Yesterday he called from Wyoming to wish me a happy anniversary from his camp where he is hunting with his brother and nephew. It’s an annual hunting event for him and I consider it my vacation. For forty-five days he scouts, hunts, and harvests his wild game for our freezer. I remain at home to write, revise, and read in the luxury of my home free from distractions like cooking, cleaning, and laundry.

This year I decided to do things differently. I concentrated on doing things my husband normally does: yard work, and house and vehicle maintenance. I wanted my husband to come home to minimal work. I decided to think of someone besides myself.

Normally I would spend the forty-five days writing and ignore everything else like housework, laundry, and shopping. I’d live amongst the fur balls my dogs leave in every corner and on every surface. I’d let the dishes stack up. I’d order out from my favorite restaurants and have the meals delivered after I ran out of clean dishes. I’d wear my clothes inside out when they got dirty and let the laundry stink up the hamper. The vacuum cleaner would stand idly in the closet resting from the puppies’ fur balls. The bills get piled on my desk and go unpaid. The weeds outside would grow to astronomical size and the hedges, and roses go untrimmed and untamed to cover every fence and gate until I am imprisoned in my own yard and my home. I usually keep the curtains closed and live like a mushroom in the dark.

This year is different. Instead of writing, I’m plotting. I’m imagining what my characters are up to and what plans they have for the next book in this series of three mysteries about the Colorado Sisters and their mayhem, murder, romance, and stilettos.

I have been busy trying to keep my social life active for example: I recently drove to Alamosa, Colorado a six-hour round road trip for an interview with Denver Channel Nine. I’m part of the program Native Bound Unbound organized by Estevan Rael-Gálvez, Ph.D.  about indigenous slaves.

My great-grandfather was a genizaro, a slave sold into servitude as a four-year-old Navajo orphan. He was baptized by his adopted parents into the church, taught Spanish, and put to work herding sheep on the ranch owned by the Gomez family. He didn’t speak English, Spanish, or Christian. We’ll never know his name, his people, or his life before he was sold by the Indian Trader, Layfette Head, to the Gomez family as an Indian Captive. The Indian Rolls from 1864 show his name, Jose Antonio Gomez, four years old, Navajo, born in New Mexico, purchased by Jose Gomez in Alamosa.

I drove to Alamosa last week to do the interview for Channel Nine News in Denver. The journalist, Jeremy Jojola, and Corky, his cameraman, and I walked through the cemetery to my great-grandparents’ grave. I said a prayer for delivering me safely from my home to their home, their final resting place. They are buried in the Spanish Cemetery because of their last name, Gomez.  My great-grandfather Jose Antonio Gomez, the Navajo, and my great-grandmother Abrana Jacobs, half Ute from her mother’s side, Abrana Quintana, and European from her father, the Reverend Jacobs, were buried in the Spanish Cemetery.

The interview went off without a hitch even though my new Subaru Forster Wilderness was rear-ended. I took a deep breath and journeyed on and did the interview the best I could. It will air in Denver on Channel Nine on October 11th at 9 p.m.

The program Native Bound Unbound is locating the descendants of these genizaros, slaves, and educating them on their ancestors’ history. I also was recruited through this program to do an interview for Story Corps. These recordings are collected in the U.S. Library of Congress and in their online archive which is now the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered. Stories are broadcast weekly on NPR.  StoryCorps shares select stories with the public through their podcast, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books.

I met Dr. Rael-Galvez at a conference in Pueblo, CO last month and learned about his amazing research that my great-grandfather is part of and now I am included as one of the descendents. As a Corn Mother, I am learning about my culture, my heritage, and my ancestors. I survived because my ancestors survived and gave me their Navajo, Ute, and Pueblo DNA. I plan on writing a book about my journey and research and the program Native Bound Unbound and the genizaros who survived despite their hardships.

I realize now why I am so brown-eyed, with dark hair and skin. I come from strong, people who never gave up and fought to survive in a world that did not value them as people but as something to be purchased and used for slavery to work the ranches and farms. I have a photo given to me by Dr. Rael-Galvez of my great-grandfather and I see my mother’s eyes in his eyes.  I wish my mother had lived long enough to see the photo of her grandfather; she was born in 1923 and he died in 1921. He was born in 1856 in New Mexico to the Diné, Navajo people, and was buried in Alamosa in the Spanish Cemetery. How ironic. His name will be part of history and future generations will learn about him through the Native Bound Unbound research.

 

Process Delayed Can Still be Progress…of a Sort

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By Lois Winston

I’m not someone who immediately jumps into the next book as soon as I finish writing the previous one. My latest Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, A Crafty Collage of Crime, released on June 6th. Other than promotional blog posts, I haven’t written anything Anastasia-related since then. Haven’t even given much thought to the next book beyond the fact that I know I’ll be picking up Anastasia’s story shortly after the recent book ended.

It’s not that I’m tired of writing about my reluctant sleuth or have no ideas. It’s more about a process I’ve found that works best for me. After a book goes off into the world, I devote the next month or so to promotion. Once the flurry of promotion wanes, I give myself permission to clear my head before once again hitting the keyboard in earnest. We all have our process, and I’ve discovered over the years that this keeps me from burning out or developing terminal writer’s block. We all need the occasional vacay, even if it’s only a vacay from the keyboard.

With that in mind, I had set a schedule to start in on serious pondering, mulling, and research the week of August 21st, the day after the Killer Nashville writers’ conference ended. I’d plant butt in chair and fingers on keyboard in earnest September 5th, the day after Labor Day.

Of course, I didn’t factor into testing positive for Covid shortly after Killer Nashville ended. And I certainly didn’t factor in the far from mild case of Covid that broadsided me and still continues haunting me with lingering symptoms. I haven’t felt this tired since suffering through mono when I was nineteen or dealing with an infant who exited the womb never needing to sleep—ever!

About the only things I’ve been able to accomplish when not napping are watching TV and reading, more of the latter than the former, thanks to the writers’ strike and the absence of many of my favorite shows. For someone who has never been a napper, I’m beginning to suspect I harbor some cat DNA. Don’t they sleep about seventeen hours a day?

At least during my daily seven hours of wakefulness, I was able to make a decent dent in my overflowing Kindle virtual TBR pile. For someone used to juggling multiple balls, if nothing else, I’ve achieved a small sense of accomplishment during my illness and recovery.

Not every book I read is worth mentioning. Several fell way short of expectations. However, there were two books that I thoroughly enjoyed: The Book Woman’s Daughter, the follow-up to Kim Michele Rchardson’s The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, and Kopp Sisters on the March, book 5 in Amy Stewart’s Kopp Sisters series. However, if you’ve enjoyed the other Kopp Sisters books, be forewarned that this book is a bit of a departure from the previous books in the series. Although labeled as a mystery, the mystery element is a minor subplot.

One of the perks of being a published author is getting to read some books before they hit bookstore shelves. I had the absolute pleasure of losing myself in advance reading copies of two books that I highly recommend. If you enjoy women’s fiction, you won’t want to miss the recently released Picture Perfect Autumn by Shelley Noble. It truly is a picture-perfect novel.

If romantic amateur sleuth mysteries are more your speed, you’ll want to read The Body in the News, the third installment in the Samantha Newman Mysteries by The Stiletto Gang’s own Gay Yellen. I was hooked on this series after reading the first book. When I finished this newest addition, I wanted to pick up the fourth book right away. I hope Gay is a fast writer!

What about you? Read any good books lately? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free download of the audiobook version of Scrapbook of Mystery, the sixth 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.

Peril in Pink: A New Series by Sydney Leigh!!

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I’m so excited to share the cover and publication details with all of you for my new book, Peril in Pink, with Crooked Lane Books out March 19th 2024!!!

Anthologies for Fall Reading

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by Paula Gail Benson

This fall sees the release of at least four anthologies full of excellent mystery and crime fiction. Here’s a list to check out:

School of Hard Knox. Fourteen authors try to break one of more of the ten rules Reverend Monsignor Ronald Knox called “necessary to the full enjoyment of a detective story.” Crippen & Landru Publishers, released August 31, 2023, with introduction by Jeffery Marks, and stories by Donna Andrews, Frankie Y. Bailey, Nikki Dolson, Martin Edwards, Greg Herren, Naomi Hirahara, Toni L.P. Kelner, Richie Narvaez, Gigi Pandian, S.J. Rozan, Daniel Stashower, Marcia Talley, Art Taylor, and Peter Lovesey.

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology. Amazon characterizes the anthology as “a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.” Vintage Press, released September 19, 2023, edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Last, Jr., with stories by Norris Black, Amber Blaeser-Wardzala, Phoenix Boudreau, Cherie Dimaline, Carson Faust, Kelli Jo Ford, Kate Hart, Shane Hawk, Brandon Hobson, Darcie Little Badger, Conley Lyons, Nick Medina, Tiffany Morris, Tommy Orange, Mona Susan Power, Marcie R. Rendon, Waubgeshig Rice, Rebecca Roanhorse, Andrea L. Rogers, Morgan Talty, D.H. Trujillo, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., Richard Van Camp, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Royce Young Wolf, and Mathilda Zeller.

 

Prohibition Peepers: Private Eyes During the Noble Experiment. Stories set during and immediately after prohibition, Down & Out Books, to be released September 25, 2023, edited by Michael Bracken with stories by Michael Bracken, Susanna Calkins, David Dean, Jim Doherty, John M. Floyd, Nils Gilbertson, Richard Helms, Hugh Lessig, Steve Liskow, Leigh Lundin, Adam Meyer, Penny Mickelbury, Joseph S. Walker, and Stacy Woodson.

Happiness is a Warm Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Beatles. The sixth anthology edited by Josh Pachter based on songs or movies. Down & Out Books, to be released October 16, 2023, edited by Josh Pachter with stories by English authors Martin Edwards, Paul Charles, Vaseem Khan, Christine Poulson, Marilyn Todd, Kate Ellis, and Tom Mead and American authors John Copenhaver, Michael Bracken, John M. Floyd, David Dean, Joseph S. Walker, Robert Lopresti, and a collaboration by Dru Ann Love and Kristopher Zgorski.