Tag Archive for: Cozy Mystery

Interview with Stiletto Gang member, Cathy Perkins!

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 By Lynn McPherson

I’ve had the privilege of getting to know one of my fellow Stiletto Gang members a little better over the last few weeks.

Cathy Perkins is not only an award-winning author, but also a contributing editor for The Big Thrill, International Thriller Writer’s monthly publication. On top of that, Cathy has worked on the blog and social media for the ITW Debut Authors, and coordinated for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

While I’ve had a life-long love affair with reading, I didn’t start writing until fairly recently. This probably isn’t how most people start, but I had a lengthy consulting job in a city about 90 miles away. I’d listen to music and daydream during the commute. Pretty soon the daydream had dialogue and I thought, hmm, this is turning into a good story. That particular book lives in a box in the closet, but I was hooked on writing, creating worlds and characters. 


Why mystery?

I’ve always loved mysteries and suspense—figuring out the who-dun-it puzzle, delighting when the author keeps me guessing or on the edge of my seat, wondering what will happen next. When I started writing, my stories and characters had secrets, obstacles, and a race to uncover the villain. I’m going to slide a second favorite part of writing in here. I love bringing the characters to life, figuring out what makes them tick, and throwing the challenges of the plot and relationship at them.  So much fun. It’s probably the best part of writing.


What is your writing process and how much time do you spend planning your books?

Like most authors, my stories start with a “what if.” Once an idea takes hold, the plot and character evolve together. I’m a plotter, so the first thing I do when I think the idea has possibilities is sketch an outline of the plot. That outline grows and evolves as my characters’ personalities and motivations flesh out. Things that of course they’d do, add layers or subplots as the story unfolds. 


How important is setting in your novels?

I’ve been told the setting in my stories is another character. My goal is always to place the reader in the scene, to create a place readers can see and feel, even if they’ve never been to South Carolina, eastern Washington, or the Cascade Mountains. The challenge is to create that bubble without slowing the pace of the plot. 

Toni McGee Causey has been a fabulous mentor and offers a terrific perspective on setting and point of view. What the character sees in the place says more about the character than the physical location. I try to keep that in mind—how my characters react to their location/setting and why it matters—as I write.


You are a contributing editor for The Big Thrill, International Thriller Writer’s monthly publication. Do you find yourself editing as you write? Or do you write first and edit after?

I have a rather strange way of putting my stories together. If something isn’t working when I’m sitting with my computer, I switch to pen and paper. Writing by hand uses a different part of my brain and I can roll with the scene. When I type those handwritten pages, I make a first edit pass for flow and word choice. But I generally finish the first draft before doing my heavy-duty editing passes. Of course, my wonderful editor will always have suggestions on how to make the story better…


Do you have a favorite author you read for inspiration?

So many favorites! 

This may sound strange since I’m currently writing at the lighter end of the mystery spectrum, but right now, I’m reading at the introspective end of the mystery/suspense/thriller genre – Jonathon King, John Hart, and pushing even further into women’s fiction, Mary Alice Monroe and Kristan Higgins. Of course, I always have dozens of books on my e-reader to choose among. 


What’s next?

Good question… 

I’ve been battling an aggressive cancer with an equally aggressive treatment regime. Chemo brain is a thing. As a result, not much writing has occurred this summer. When all this hit, I was halfway through Peril in the Pony Ring, the next book in the Keri Isles series. (Keri organizes her first event for the town of Liberty Falls and of course there are complications.) I also had the next Holly Price novel outlined (Holly is back in the Tri-Cities. Her best friend Laurie pulls her into another mystery that naturally has financial overtones.) My editor nudges me periodically about turning that one in….  Once I can string a few coherent sentences together, it’ll be a challenge deciding which one to work on first.

Learn more about Cathy here:

Facebook http://facebook.com/CathyPerkinsAuthor

BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cathy-perkins 

Website www.cperkinswrites.com 

Author Lois Winston Interviews Author T.K. Thorne

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By Lois Winston

Today I sit down for a chat with author T.K. Thorne. Learn more about T.K. and her books at her website.

LW: I recently read your historical novel, Noah’s Wife, and found it fascinating. Most authors start out in other careers, and those who have been in law enforcement, like you, often gravitate toward writing mysteries, suspense, or thrillers. What drew you to write the untold story of a character from the Bible? 

TKT: Hi Lois!  I’m so happy you picked Noah’s Wife because it is my first born and special to me. When I finished writing, the characters felt so real, I truly missed them being in my head saying unexpected things. It’s a joyful and magical thing to know when readers open the book because they all come alive again! 

 

I have never been drawn to the mystery/crime genre, perhaps because it felt too much like everyday work for me! My early reading love was science fiction and then epic fantasy. I wrote four books in those genres, but my dream of an agent and traditional publishing didn’t happen for those books. So, I went looking for a topic that would enthrall me and hopefully snag an agent. 

One day, I was at a poetry reading and a friend remarked that her pastor had dropped the fact that Noah’s wife was unnamed and had gotten only one line in the Bible in one of his sermons. I immediately envisioned the vast, white emptiness that was the life of a woman who played such an important role in the history/mythology of the three of the world’s major religions. Captivated by the idea that I could be the person to fill in that tabula rasa, I began researching what her world might have been like. Learning a historic flood had actually occurred around the year 5500 BCE that gave me a time frame for archeological research. (Did you know scientists can now determine what a person was eating thousands of years ago?) Then the character of Na’amah began to assert herself in my mind, where she lived for the four years it took to write the story.

 

LW: You’ve also written a novel about Lot’s wife, but your current book, House of Rose, is the first in a planned trilogy that incorporates murder, mayhem, and magic. Do you see yourself ever going back to writing more historical novels?

 

TKT: I wrote House of Rose as a gift to myself, something fun that didn’t require the research I had been doing for the historical novels and my nonfiction. I sat down at the computer with three little words buzzing around in my head (“You’re a hero.”) Those little words became three books about Rose Brighton, a police officer in Birmingham, Alabama who discovers she’s a witch. So much fun!

 

LW: I see you’ve also written a nonfiction book, Last Chance for Justice, about the 1963 church bombing in Atlanta. Do you have plans to continue crime-related nonfiction as well?

 

TKT: Actually, I now have two nonfiction books—Last Chance for Justice and just recently, Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham’s Civil Rights Days. I had to get over my retreat from research for that one! It was an ongoing project for eight years while the Rose books were also being hatched. Both of those books were unplanned. I never intended to write nonfiction, much less about the civil rights era. Living and working in a historical civil rights city like Birmingham, Alabama gave rise to the circumstances that led me to write them. I’m proud that I did and hope they have contributed to our understanding of history and ourselves. 

 

As to what plans I have, they are ping-pong balls right now. I’ve started rewriting one of those early epic fantasy novels I loved in younger days, playing with the idea of another biblical era historical fiction, and a (non-magical) crime/mystery. But to be honest, the pandemic has sucked my writing energy, and I haven’t filled my well back up yet, or perhaps the right story hasn’t emerged. Until that happens, I’m staying busy with garden projects, painting, and taking care of my rescue horses. I’ve been writing for a long time and who knows. We shall see what arises!

 

LW: The bio on your website states that as an eight-year-old, you won a ribbon for being stubborn. I think stubbornness is a trait that serves many authors well. So many of us need that stubbornness to persevere through years of rejections before we sell our first book. Tell us more about that award. How did you feel at the time when you received it?

 

TKT: It was a very hot summer day in Montgomery, Alabama. I was riding in a horse show at Little Lake Farms in Montgomery, Alabama on a bay named Duchess. I was so small, they had to tie my stirrups to get them short enough. The jumps were all barely off the ground. I could have jumped over them myself, but Duchess was not in the mood. The rule was after three refusals, you are disqualified, and we already had about ten or more (I lost count) at one jump, so there was no point in continuing. But I just wouldn’t give up. I kept circling back and aiming her, my little legs flailing against the saddle leather and finally, Duchess gave up, hopped over the crossed beams of the jump and finished the course. The crowd gave me a standing ovation, and the judge gave me an unexpected third place ribbon. 

 

At the time, I was shocked, knowing I should have been disqualified and felt guilty about it. It wasn’t until I was older that I understood the judge had bent the rules because he admired my spirit and determination. I have had other awards over the course of several years, but none of them, even the ones for my books, meant as much to me as that faded yellow ribbon I still have, because you are absolutely right. Determination and not quitting makes all the difference. I wrote six books before my first one was published and received countless rejections. It’s taken me almost fifty years of stubbornness to get here.

 

LW: You mention that you have a black belt in Aikido and Jujitsu and dove the Great Blue Hole in Belize. You sound like a woman who loves adventure. What are some of the other off-the-beaten path places you’ve explored and adventures you’ve had?

 

TKT: Well, you are right again! I love adventure and new vistas. I think that is part of what I enjoyed about police work—not knowing what was going to happen next. And a martial arts is an “art” and hence, a process of constant discovery. Travel, of course, also presents those kinds of opportunities. Visits to Israel and Turkey were part of research for Noah’s Wife and Angels at the Gate (Lot’s wife). Martial arts took me to Japan years ago. In addition to Belize, I’ve been with friends and hubby to New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Croatia, southern England, Thailand, and Cambodia. Machu Picchu and Galapagos in South America were on the menu before the pandemic, but that will have to wait. Right now, I am trying to find adventure in my backyard battling renegade wisteria and getting to know the two rescue horses I recently acquired.

 

LW: Finally, is there something I haven’t asked that you’re dying to tell our readers, either about yourself or your books…or both?

 

TKT: Lois, having just read Assault with a Glue Gun, when you say the word “dying,” I just sit up and take note of what’s in your hands!”  😂

 

Thanks for the questions. It’s been fun!


LW: As it was for me.


~*~

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.

 


Website: www.loiswinston.com

Newsletter sign-up: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z1z1u5

Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/anasleuth

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anasleuth

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/722763.Lois_Winston

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lois-winston

 

Summer Is Perfect for Shorts!

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 by Sparkle Abbey

Here in the Midwest we’re finally seeing some regular summer weather but most of this summer has been hot, hot hot!

So no matter what your style vibe is, it’s truly been the perfect weather for shorts. 

We’re probably apt to flash a little less leg in our choices. 

Mostly because after a year of going nowhere and working inside, we not only don’t have any tan lines – we don’t have any tans at all. 

Caro and Mel, the heroines in our Pampered Pets mystery series would undoubtedly be much more daring And, after all, they do live in Laguna Beach. 

So, we’re thinking they’d have great stylish choices in shorts. 

How about you? Do you wear shorts? 

And, if so, what’s your favorite style? 

And by the way, since we’re talking short, summer is also the perfect time for short reads. We’ve been reading some of the award nominated shorts stories. Something quick for the deck or the beach or even for a road trip. So, we’re loving great novellas and short stories! And we’ve also just released our very first short – PROJECT DOGWAY. 

Here’s a little bit about it. 
Canines are on the “catwalk” at this Laguna Beach dog fashion show—a heartworm awareness fundraiser—where former Texas beauty queen and currently-not-speaking-to-each-other cousins, Caro and Mel, are in attendance. When award-winning show beagle, Shadow’s, owner drops dead from eating a deadly scallop ceviche, the cousins find themselves embroiled in much more than a fashion “faux paw.”
Project Dogway is available on all ebook platforms: 

Watch for our next short, coming soon! Any guesses on what Caro and Met will be up to next? 

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,and Twitter 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.

Pumping My Own Gas and Other Firsts

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By Lois Winston

It’s official. This Jersey Girl is no longer a Jersey Girl. I have the Tennessee driver’s license and license plate to prove it. And it’s a very strange feeling. For one thing, I now have to pump my own gas, something I could previously only do when driving out-of-state. I think it’s been about ten years since I last used a gas pump. New Jersey has a weird law that doesn’t allow ordinary citizens to fill their own gas tanks. Even if you happen to be the person who invented the modern gas pump, you have to leave the filling to the attendant. Oregon is the only other state that doesn’t allow you to pump your own gas. What century are we living in? 

It’s been so long since I pumped my own gas that on the drive down to Tennessee, I first grabbed the diesel nozzle. Luckily, they’re designed in such a way that you can’t accidentally fill your tank with diesel if you don’t drive a diesel automobile, but it took me a minute or two to figure out why I couldn’t get the nozzle into the gas tank. Then I managed to dribble gasoline on my hand and shoe. This experience will definitely go into a book at some point. It’s the author’s way of turning lemons into lemonade.

 

I’m experiencing many more firsts with this move. Our new home is the newest house we’ve ever owned, only seventeen years old. Prior to this, our newest house was built in 1939. The oldest was built in 1893. And the first home we ever bought was a Sears house kit. (No, we didn’t buy the kit from Sears. I’m not that old!)

 

This is the first house I’ve ever lived in without a basement. Even as an apartment-dwelling city kid, we had a basement. But this is also the first house with an attached two-car garage. I think I’m going to like that, if I can navigate in and out without sideswiping either my husband’s car or the garage wall.

 

There are many things I’m going to miss about living in New Jersey—being so close to Manhattan theaters and museums, living less than an hour from the ocean, being able to walk to shopping, instead of having to jump in the car for every errand. And some really good friends.

 

However, I’m certainly not going to miss snowstorms and the power outages they generally entailed. I did suffer through a four-day outage a few summers ago while visiting family in Nashville, but it was nothing compared to the nine day-outage we endured during Superstorm Sandy and the freak early snowstorm that followed, or the countless blizzards and Nor’easters that have brought down power lines over the years. 

 

If the power goes out in the summer, you can walk around the house in your underwear or a bathing suit and cook your meals outside on the grill. It’s far worse to wear seventeen layers of clothing indoors and have to shovel your way through three-foot high snow drifts to get to that grill in winter.

 

I’m also looking forward to making new friends and exploring my new state—once all the cartons are unpacked. I’m just not sure I’ll ever make the leap to saying, “Y’all.”

 

~*~

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.

 

Website: www.loiswinston.com

Newsletter sign-up: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z1z1u5

Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/anasleuth

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anasleuth

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/722763.Lois_Winston

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lois-winston

For the Love of Sidekicks!

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By Lynn McPherson

I love developing characters for stories. Right now I’m writing the first draft of a new book and I’m in the process of narrowing down the sidekick–who is she and why do I like her? I’ve talked about them before but I think it’s worth bringing up again.

Why is a sidekick so important? Simple. She is an ally to our amateur sleuth–someone trustworthy enough for her to share secrets with. There’s no one better to bounce ideas off of than a best bud.

Top three qualities in a sidekick? Here’s my picks:


1.     Good Listening Skills!
What is the point of having great insight if there is no one around to share it with? A sidekick in a mystery must be willing to indulge the protagonist no matter what they are prattling on about. It goes beyond the passive ability to hear. The character must absorb what the sleuth is saying and sometimes even help progress ideas along so they are not mere musings. The amateur sleuth can either turn them into coherent theories, or pass them off as sheer observations.

2.    Loyalty
Of all the qualities in a friend, this one always tops the charts. The main character in a cozy needs someone to rely on through thick and thin. This is especially important in the business of amateur sleuthing since the protagonist is almost always mixed up in murder! It’s important for the reader to have faith in the friendship, as well. With so many suspects on the loose, there should be at least one dependable friend at all times—someone who will always be there, even when things go awry.

3.    Humor
Part of the charm of mysteries is the knowledge that a solution lies at the end of the book. The puzzle will be solved, order will be restored. Light mysteries require an element of joy that is brought about through close relationships within the surrounding community—most notably, with her ever-present true friend and confidante. Why not make them a funny? It’s a great way to lighten the mood and show the sleuth doesn’t take herself too seriously all of the time.

The name of the sidekick in my Izzy Walsh Mystery Series is Ava Russell. She has all of the above qualities and was my favorite character to write–especially the dialogue. Sassy is probably the best word to describe her. Ava is inspired by Jane Russell’s character in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Dorothy Shaw.


I hope everyone can get outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Until then, happy reading! 

Lynn McPherson has worked for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, ran a small business, and taught English across the globe. She has travelled the world solo where her daring spirit has led her to jump out of airplanes, dive with sharks, and learn she would never master a surfboard. She now channels her lifelong love of adventure and history into her writing, where she is free to go anywhere, anytime. Her cozy series has three books out: The Girls’ Weekend Murder and The Girls Whispered Murder, and The Girls Dressed For Murder.  



TO TELL THE TRUTH–AUTHOR EDITION

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By Lois Winston 

Gameshows were once a staple of daytime TV. I remember being no more than a toddler in the 1950s and watching Queen for a Day with my grandmother.

 

I’ve been a huge Jeopardy! fan ever since the show first debuted with Art Fleming in 1964. I miss spending half an hour each night with Alex Trebek. I don’t envy the producers when they finally forego the guest hosts and choose a replacement for him. As those guest hosts have shown, Alex is a tough act to follow.

 

With only a brief hiatus, Jeopardy! has been around almost nonstop since its inception. Not so for most other gameshows. However, for the past several years, many of the classic gameshows of the 50s and 60s have been revived as summer replacements on network TV. One such show is To Tell the Truth.

 

So I thought it might be fun today to play To Tell the Truth—Author Edition. What follows are ten statements about me—or maybe not. Can you figure out which ones are true and which are false?

 

1. I can name all of Shakespeare’s plays in alphabetical order.

2. I can play 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon in 2 degrees.

3. I can speak three languages fluently.

4. I graduated 32nd in a class of 803.

5. While still in college, I designed a poster for Sesame Street.

6. I hate peanut butter.

7. I run three miles a day.

8. I’m a USA Today bestselling author.

9. I own a parrot.

10. I backpacked across Europe.

~*~

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.

 

Website

Newsletter  

Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog

Pinterest

Twitter

Goodreads

Bookbub

 

A Story is Feelings

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by Sparkle Abbey

One of the many advantages of a
writing team is that you always have someone to talk books with. While we tend
to read the same types of books, we don’t always read the same authors, so our
chats are a great way to discover the-book-you-didn’t-know-you-needed-to-read.

Photo by Ekaterina Bolovtsova
from Pexels

During one of our hours-long book
conversations, the topic of award-winning books came up. There was one book that
we had both recently read, that we agreed was really well written, had a great
plot, good twist, interesting characters, but left us. . . .unfulfilled. After
a deep dive into what we loved about it, we realized that neither of us had become
one hundred percent invested in any of the main characters. Anita likes to call
that “imprinting.” By that, she means the character whose emotional story
is being told is firmly impressed into her mind in a way that she strongly
connects with them.

Don’t misunderstand, that bestseller,
award-winning book we were discussing it’s NOT a bad book. We’re still talking
about it. We’re just talking about the plot twists and the great writing. But
for us, it wasn’t a book that either of us devoured, willing to stay up all
night to finish knowing we’d be blurry-eyed, and sleep-deprived the next day.
So why not?

The conversation turned to an
excellent craft book (who doesn’t love a great book on writing?)


by our dear friend,
Cheryl St. John, called Writing
With Emotion, Tension, and Conflict: Techniques for Crafting an Expressive and
Compelling Novel.  If you’re a
writer and have not read this book, read it. It will change the way you write. One
of the many amazing takeaways from Cheryl’s book is found on the first page of
the introduction. Cheryl writes, “Probably the most important concept I’ve
taken away from any book on writing is from Dwight V. Swain’s Techniques of the
Selling Writer: A story is feelings.”

So much power in four words. A.
Story. Is. Feelings.

Emotions come from the inner
conflict, the fight within the characters themselves. When done well, those
feeling are strategically woven throughout the story in a way that the reader can
“imprint” on the character. As the reader we must know what happens next because
we’re emotionally invested in the characters—good, bad, or fatally flawed—and
the story those characters are telling.

That’s what we were missing. We didn’t
know which character to imprint on, so we didn’t connect to any of the characters
on a deeper level. A great lesson for us to apply to our writing. Also, it
reminded us that it’s probably time to reread Writing With Emotion, Tension,
and Conflict.

If you’ve recently read a book that
kept you up all night, tell us about it in the comments. We want to know!

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, and Twitter 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.

Kill Your Darlings

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By Lois Winston 

Most writers are familiar with the phrase, “Kill your darlings.” It’s been widely attributed to William Faulkner but actually comes from a Cambridge University lecture given by English writer Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch about a century ago when he advised, “Murder your darlings.”

 

However, neither Faulkner nor Quiller-Couch was talking about the characters that populate a novel. They were referring to the need to be ruthless when it comes to eliminating anything that we may personally love in our writing but which has no reason for being in our stories.

 

Quiller-Couch’s full quote is, “Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.”

 

One of the best pieces of writing advice I’ve ever received is that everything in a book, whether narrative action, internalization, or dialog, must do one of two things—either advance the plot or tell the reader something she needs to know about the point of view character at that moment. In other words, rid your stories of filler.

 

However, the same is not necessarily true of the characters who populate our stories. Yes, as mystery authors we need dead bodies. Otherwise, there would be little need for our sleuths to figure out whodunit unless our mystery is about who stole the cookies from the cookie jar. And we all know the answer to that—Cookie Monster.

 

I have a friend who loves my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, with one exception. She absolutely hates (with a passion bordering on obsession) Anastasia’s communist mother-in-law Lucille. She has begged me on numerous occasions to kill her off or barring that, ship her off to Russia. Lucille is like fingernails on a blackboard to this friend.

 

Yet, Lucille is the character many of my readers love to hate. Yes, she’s irritating, but along with providing both tension and comic relief in my series, she also provides me with some much-needed catharsis. You see, Lucille is based on my relationship with my own (now deceased) communist mother-in-law.

 

Hey, write what you know, right? So as much as my friend would prefer otherwise, Lucille will be hanging around for as long as I keep writing about Anastasia. Besides, you never know how readers will react to an author killing off an ongoing character. I remember the backlash when Elizabeth George killed off a beloved character several years ago. Now, I doubt any of my readers would classify Lucille as a beloved character, but as I’ve already stated, she is the character many love to hate.

 

Are there characters you’ve come across that you wish the author would kill off? What about characters you wish an author hadn’t killed off?

 

~*~

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.

 

Website

Newsletter 

Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog

Pinterest

Twitter

Goodreads

Bookbub

 

Four Cuts Too Many – I Need Your Help, Please by Debra H. Goldstein

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Four Cuts Too Many – I Need
Your Help, Please by Debra H. Goldstein

Eleven days to go! If you had told me in 2011, when my
first book, Maze in Blue, was published, that a decade later, I’d have
six published original titles, one turned into my agent ready to go, two mass
market runs, audio and e-books of three of my novels, and more than forty short
stories published, I would have laughed.

I’m not laughing now. Instead, I’m anxiously awaiting the
release of Four Cuts Too Many, the fourth book in Kensington’s Sarah
Blair series (already available on pre-order). Although I’ve enjoyed doing zoom
events, I’m hoping there will soon be opportunities to meet in person with
readers. There’s something special about that in general. Even more, when a
Facebook or friend from the past appears at a signing.

 

It’s been over a year since I’ve been on the road doing
promotion. The pandemic created a difficult time to have a new title come out.
I was six weeks into my book tour for Three Treats Too Many when the
world shut down. At that point, the sales were leading the same point of sale numbers
that my first two books had achieved at that point. I was excited. One reason
is because I donate a significant portion of the royalties from pre-orders and
the first month of sales to charity (and I’m doing so again).

 

Like many others, I became an author with a new book having
to find a way to let people know the book was out there. Facebook, Twitter, and
other social media outlets became the promotional norm. I adapted.

 

I’m ready to adapt again. I don’t have a choice. The world
is reopening, but Four Cuts Too Many won’t be the new book on the block
when the restrictions on congregating are lifted. That’s why I need to get the
word out now about the book. Anything you can do from sharing this blog to
pre-ordering a copy will be deeply appreciated. Numbers count. When this book
comes out and I turn the next one in, the decision will be made whether I’m
offered a new Sarah Blair contract. I hope so because there is more of Sarah
and her friends that I’d like to share with readers.

 

An author friend of my calls this shameless promotion. I
think of it as being honest with friends. What do you think?

 

Four Cuts Too Many:

 

Sarah Blair gets an education in slicing and
dicing when someone in culinary school serves up a main corpse in Wheaton,
Alabama . . .
 
Between working as a law firm receptionist,
reluctantly pitching in as co-owner of her twin sister’s restaurant, and
caretaking for her regal Siamese RahRah and rescue dog Fluffy, Sarah has no
time to enjoy life’s finer things. Divorced and sort-of dating, she’s
considering going back to school. But as a somewhat competent sleuth, Sarah’s
more suited for criminal justice than learning how many ways she can burn a
meal.
 
Although she wouldn’t mind learning some knife
skills from her sous chef, Grace Winston. An adjunct instructor who teaches
cutlery expertise in cooking college, Grace is considering accepting an
executive chef’s position offered by Jane Clark, Sarah’s business rival—and her
late ex-husband’s lover. But Grace’s future lands in hot water when the
school’s director is found dead with one of her knives in his back. To clear
her friend’s name, there’s no time to mince words. Sarah must sharpen her own
skills at uncovering an elusive killer . . .
 
 Includes quick and easy recipes!

 

Pre-order from your favorite INDIE (a great way
to support them, too), https://www.amazon.com/Four-Cuts-Sarah-Blair-Mystery/dp/1496732219
or Four Cuts Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein, Paperback | Barnes
& Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)  

                                     

Toilet Paper Origami and Absolutely No Wastepaper Baskets Allowed!

/in /by

My Curated Bookcases

By Lois Winston 

Last month I blogged about how my husband and I were getting ready to move from New Jersey to Nashville to be closer to family. We’ve since taken another step toward that goal—our home for the last twenty-three years is now on the market.

 

In the course of my married life I’ve lived in four different houses. However, the last time we moved HGTV wasn’t part of the American consciousness. No flippers, renovators, or stagers brainwashed the public about the necessity of open-concept, tray ceilings, and hardscaped yards with outdoor kitchens. Hardwood floors aren’t enough. They have to be wide-planked hardwood. And of course, the cardinal sin these days is the dreaded popcorn ceiling. Buyers have been conditioned to take one look and immediately do an about-face, as if a popcorn ceiling is in the same category as termites and radon.

 

We’ve always lived in older homes. We love the charm of Victorian and Craftsman architecture. The oldest house we’ve lived in was built in 1891, the youngest in 1939. Our current house is a 1935 Craftsman Bungalow. It isn’t open-concept with twelve-foot ceilings. It doesn’t have a Carrera marble waterfall island in the kitchen.

 

There are forty-four photos online along with floor plans and room sizes. Any interested buyer has the ability to see the house from top to bottom and inside out from the comfort of their own home before deciding whether they want to see it in person. No one looking for a new home with an open concept plan, spa bathrooms, and huge walk-in closets would even consider an in person trip to our house. Or so you would think. Yet by some of the feedback we’ve received, that’s exactly what is happening. I would imagine the realtors are not happy with having their time wasted in this manner.

 

Nor am I happy, because each time a tour is scheduled, I have to race through my house, hiding wastepaper baskets, toiletries, bathroom floormats, and dishtowels. I have to make sure there are full rolls of toilet paper in each bathroom dispenser and that the top sheet is folded into a point a la upscale hotels. Nothing can be left on kitchen and bathroom countertops. No shampoo bottles and soap in the showers.

 

All of this and more was on orders of the house stager hired by the realtor. She walked through our home before it went on the market and handed us a homework list. Then she returned to make sure we had complied. Now, I’m all in favor of making my house as presentable as possible to secure a sale. A cluttered house doesn’t show well, but I don’t like clutter. So my house was not in need of lots of work prior to going on the market. 

 

Not according to the stager, though. She insisted I buy lemons to float in a clear pitcher of water to be put on the picnic table on the deck. She insisted the flowers I had planned to place on the dining room and kitchen tables were only white and in clear vases. She even insisted I curate my bookcases, getting rid of ninety percent of my books. I’m an author. I have a lot of bookcases throughout my house, and they hold a lot of books, most of which are now squirreled away in cartons hidden in the back of closets—along with the wastepaper baskets. (It’s spring allergy season. Do you know what a pain it is to dig through the back of a closet for a wastepaper basket every time you need to discard a tissue?)

 

I’m wondering if buyers are that gullible. Will they not make an offer on a house because there are too many books in the bookcases? Or because I forgot to fold the toilet paper into a point for one showing? Time will tell. Meanwhile, I now have all sorts of plots rolling around in my head for future mysteries. Want to guess the identity of the victim in many of those plots? So maybe all that work is worth it, whether it increases the price someone is willing to pay for our house or not. At least I now have ideas for future books.

~*~

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.

 

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