There’s a trend in historical fiction to incorporate
real people—both famous and infamous—into plots. Sometimes these characters are
secondary to the story; other times they play an integral role in the
narrative. The first book I ever came across to do this was E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime. Great book! Great musical! I
highly recommend both.
In contemporary fiction most authors shy away from
using real people for fear of lawsuits, limiting references to such things as
making comparisons about a character’s resemblance to a celebrity. It’s a great
way to create a visual image without sticking a paragraph of boring head-to-toe
description into a scene. In the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series
author Lois Winston described Zack Barnes, my love interest, as “a guy who
looks like Pierce Brosnan, George Clooney, Patrick Dempsey, and Antonio
Bandares all contributed to his gene pool.” I don’t think she has to worry
about receiving letters from any of their attorneys.
However, because I’m a crafts editor for a women’s
magazine, I’m always on the lookout for new trends, both in crafts and in pop
culture in general, for Lois to incorporate into her books about me. Sometimes I
come across something too good to pass up, even if it is a bit outside the box
of traditional crafting.
Such was the case when I learned about vajazzling. Vajazzling
is a portmanteau that combines bedazzling with another word. (Use your
imagination.) Here was something not only crafty but both fashion and
beauty-related—not to mention mind-boggling. It also ticked off three of the
monthly features showcased at the magazine where I work. Being that the
mysteries Lois writes about me are humorous, vajazzling was just too
outrageously funny to pass up. So Lois decided to incorporate the craft into Decoupage Can Be Deadly, the fourth book
in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries.
Normally, I’d give directions for a craft project here
on the blog on Mondays, but given the nature of this particular craft and the
fact that this is a G-rated blog, that’s just not possible. It’s also the
reason Lois chose to feature decoupage projects in the book rather than
vajazzling projects. However, if you enjoy a good laugh, you’ll love how she
handles the topic of vajazzling in Decoupage
Can Be Deadly.
Decoupage
Can Be Deadly
Anastasia and her fellow American Woman editors are steaming mad when minutes before the
opening of a consumer show, they discover half their booth usurped by Bling!, their publisher’s newest
magazine. CEO Alfred Gruenwald is sporting new arm
candy—rapper-turned-entrepreneur and Bling!
executive editor, the first-name-only Philomena. During the consumer show,
Gruenwald’s wife serves Philomena with an alienation of affection lawsuit, but
Philomena doesn’t live long enough to make an appearance in court. She’s found
dead days later, stuffed in the shipping case that held Anastasia’s decoupage
crafts. When Gruenwald makes cash-strapped Anastasia an offer she can’t refuse,
she wonders, does he really want to find Philomena’s killer or is he harboring
a hidden agenda?
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4 comments:
Very interesting--something new I just learned. Good luck and much success with the new novel.
Thanks for stopping by Jacqueline!
OMG, that was funny (in the book, I mean). Not that I will ever try such a project. I like my anatomy the way it is, thank you.
That makes two of us, Anne!
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