Featuring guest authors; crafting tips and projects; recipes from food editor and sleuthing sidekick Cloris McWerther; and decorating, travel, fashion, health, beauty, and finance tips from the rest of the American Woman editors.

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Friday, March 31, 2023

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--AUTHOR LOIS WINSTON MAKES LEMONADE FROM LEMONS

Sometimes things slip through the cracks. Such was the case today. Our featured author was juggling too many balls in the air and dropped one. Unfortunately, we were that dropped ball. So we’ve had to reschedule her to another date. 

However, in the time-honored tradition of making lemonade from lemons, this gives us one last opportunity to remind all of you that the ebook sale on the bestselling 2-book bundle of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, featuring Revenge of the Crafty Corpse and Decoupage Can Be Deadly, is nearly over. You still have today and Saturday to grab your copy for only .99 cents. On Sunday, the price reverts to $6.99.

 

Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, Books 3-4

Revenge of the Crafty Corpse  Anastasia Pollack’s dead louse of a spouse has left her with more bills than you can shake a crochet hook at. Teaching craft classes at her mother-in-law’s assisted living center seems like an easy way to supplement her meager income. But when Lyndella Wegner—a 98-year-old know-it-all with a penchant for ruffles and lace—turns up dead, Anastasia’s cantankerous mother-in-law becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Upon discovering that Lyndella’s scandalous craft projects—and her scandalous behavior—made her plenty of enemies, Anastasia sets out to find the real killer before her mother-in-law ends up behind bars.

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 now 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 show up in court. She’s found dead days later, stuffed in the shipping crate 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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Wednesday, March 29, 2023

AUTHOR MARY SEIFERT WEAVES PUZZLES, KNITTING, A LABRADOR RETRIEVER, AND THE TITANIC INTO A MYSTERY

Mystery author Mary Seifert loves puzzles of all kinds and can get lost for days trying to solve them. As a former math teacher, she ties numbers and logic to the mayhem game. When not writing or reading, she often pretends to cook. You can also find her nibbling chocolate and sipping wine, both of which sometimes occur WHILE writing and reading. Learn more about Mary and her books at her website.

I’ve written for as long as I can remember and love contriving puzzles. Taking a local history class, I discovered there could have been a county north of us, but circumstances dictated it merge with our county in the 1870s. There could have been a Columbia, Minnesota in Monongalia County, and that’s the location of my story. I can use all the landmarks near home. I solved a cryptic TSA tweet from May 2014, searching for individuals interested in solving puzzles, and Katie Wilk was born. Columbia is a small town with many connections.

 

Katie is an ex-cryptanalyst turned high school math teacher, trying to recreate herself after the tragic death of her husband. The dog thrust upon her, Maverick, is the embodiment of all the fabulous and heroic characteristics of the hospice therapy dogs I have been honored to work with as well as the comical and conniving antics (the food stealing, table topping, and unexpected barking) of my own Labrador retriever. 

 

Katie’s landlady is an expert knitter with a skill I can only hope to aspire to. I love following patterns and watching them turn into lovely, artful pieces, whether it’s a Christmas stocking, a dishcloth (which I am proficient making), or putting together the pieces of a puzzle to help Katie solve a crime. The rhythmic clacking of the needles helps ground Katie. But it does seem that her forte is crafting a killer cocktail.

 

Each book includes a different kind of puzzle, for example: a cryptoquip, a Rubik’s cube, or musical cryptography, a geocache, a tidbit of Titanic history, a nod to the ingenious leading female cryptographers of WWI and WWII, a taste-tested cocktail recipe, and the beginning of a new relationship. I can’t wait for you to meet my cozy mystery family.

 

Maverick, Movies & Murder 

A Katie and Maverick Cozy Mystery, Book 1

 

After losing everything, Katie Wilk is starting life over in Columbia, Minnesota, with a new career—giving up cryptanalysis in favor of teaching school—and a canine companion, Maverick, a black Labrador retriever. But on one of their first outings, Katie and Maverick discover a dead body in a nearby marshland. As the county coroner, Dr. Pete Erickson is one of the first on the scene; as the doctor that day in the ER, he’s the one who stitches up Katie’s head; as the son of the police chief, Pete is also in on the investigation.

 

Meanwhile, the locals are gearing up for the premiere of a new docudrama film called Titanic: One Story, which would be the cornerstone piece of a new Titanic exhibit, to open Labor Day weekend at the Midwest Minnesota History Center. The director selected their town as the location for some of the scenes, and many local residents are featured as extras in the movie. There will be a huge gala dinner and celebration for the grand opening. Tragedy strikes when the director dies suddenly, and suspects abound.

 

Katie finds herself in the middle of it all and doesn’t know anyone in town well enough to know who she can trust.

 

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Monday, March 27, 2023

CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--AUTHOR ELLE MITCHELL VISUALIZES HER STORIES BY CREATING MINIATURE SCENES

Elle Mitchell writes raw, character-driven dark fiction. She spends her downtime researching and eating more than her share of homemade baked goods. Learn more about Elle and her books at her website. 

I’m a visual person.

 

That sounds almost contradictory, given that I’m an author. I haven’t always been a writer, though. I used to be a special effects makeup artist. It was a lifetime ago, when I used another name and lived in another city. 

 

A long medical journey led me to leave my original career path in need of a more sedentary lifestyle; it led me to writing. But when the newness of my first novel wore off, I realized I missed that physical, tactile representation of my work. So used to seeing my vision on screen, it felt small on a page. 

 

In came crafting.

 

I’ve been a crafter since I was a teen, but not a focused one. Until that point, I’d tried a little bit of everything—from shadowbox necklaces to encaustics. Choosing what would best represent my books seemed impossible. So, for years, it was everything.

 

I made resin shakers of TVs and embroideries of cul de sacs, collages of inspiration photos, and beaded jewelry. It all still felt a little lacking. When I started making miniature books to keep track of my reading, things seemed to fall into place.


I dove into the world of miniatures headfirst. Something about me: I’m not good at trying or testing something. I just have to do it.

 

There were a lot of glue mishaps and ruined pajama pants. But eventually, I found my stride. 

 

Once the miniatures are in my hands, it’s like I'm able to let the stories go. They are truly complete.

 

With Another Elizabeth, I knew I wanted to make one or two crime scenes. My first instinct was to choose the bloodiest ones and tap back into the side of me that came home with blood splatters on her cheek and chunks of fleshy bits in her hair, but I went a different way. I chose by the location.

 

I wanted to make a dirty kitchen and a coffee table, to stain a piece of carpet with paint and have an overflowing trash can with a slimy pizza box. Making small and ordinary objects was so gratifying. 

 

I feel as proud holding a miniature loveseat that I made as I do holding a book I wrote. One took months, maybe a year or more, while the other only took a few hours. But both express how I view the world. That’s not nothing.

 

I plucked a still image of violence from Elizabeth’s imagination for the second miniature. She works at a grocery store and has a fun time picturing the murders of her customers. This led me to a checkout line conveyor belt covered in viscera.

 

Most of the materials I used are scrap paper, packaging from cream cheese or scissors, polymer clay, or plastic bits of broken electronics. There are a few 3D printed objects (the sink, for instance), and the silverware was purchased.

 

Bringing parts of the story into the physical world is like a bookend to the novel. My imagination has come to life in every way I can share it. 

 

I hope readers enjoy the extension of the novel, and it draws miniature lovers to the book because curiosity kills people (never cats).

 

Another Elizabeth

The Janes Series, Book 3

 

Elizabeth Dauphine’s life is taking a turn. She has three jobs, a boyfriend that loves her too much, and a recent diagnosis of Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. She’s coming apart at the seams. Now all she cares about is keeping her promise to her younger self before her body fails her—kill without getting caught.

 

Can Elizabeth physically handle satisfying her urge and maintaining her carefully built façade of normalcy? And if so, will she be able to stop with just one victim?

 

Note: This is a dark book with many graphic situations. There is no sexual assault or rape. No animals are tortured or die.

 

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Friday, March 24, 2023

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--AN INTERVIEW WITH MYSTERY AUTHOR MIKE BEFELER

Mike Befeler is the author of nineteen books including the Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery Series, two of which have been finalists for the Lefty Award for best humorous mystery. Old Detectives Home is the first book in the Omnipodge Trilogy. The second book in the trilogy, Last Gasp Motel, will be released in July. Learn more about Mike and his books at his website and blog. 

When I started writing Old Detectives Home, I was intrigued by many of the fictional detectives in the early years of the mystery genre. I read a number of these books by marvelous early mystery writers. My idea was to mix the fictional detectives with the authors in a mystery.  I set the novel in a fictional town called Omnipodge along the central coast of California. 

 

Also, I came across two scathing reviews of the mystery genre and mystery writers, written by critic Edmund Wilson in New Yorker Magazine in the mid-1940s. I thought it would only be appropriate that the murder victim be the namesake of Wilson. Also, there is a bumbling detective from the Omnipodge police department who investigates the murder. His name is Moriarty, the same name as Sherlock Holmes’ arch nemesis.

 

Throughout the book, there is a running feud between two of the fictional detectives: Hercule Poirot and Auguste Dupin (Edgar Allen Poe’s detective). Hercule is Belgian and Auguste is French, and they become very jingoistic. The climax comes during the performance of a play called Pigpen, a takeoff on Mousetrap.

 

This book was a joy to research and write. It reflects what I like best about being a writer. I can come up with a crazy idea and then turn it into a humorous story.

 

Old Detectives Home

An Omnipodge Trilogy, Book 1

 

Imagine a retirement home populated with residents such as an aging Hercule Poirot and a dementia-suffering Sherlock Holmes and run by staff including Art Doyle, Dash Hammett and Dot Sayers. In this light-hearted spoof of the mystery genre, every character is either a namesake of a real person from the mystery writing world or a character from a mystery novel. On anything but a dark and stormy night, a dead body is found. The staff managers find themselves unable to control the unruly old detectives. Mix in clues and red herrings galore as the cast of suspects investigate each other to figure out who done it. This is what my most recent mystery novel, Old Detectives Home, is about.

 

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Wednesday, March 22, 2023

AN INTERVIEW WITH COZY MYSTERY AUTHOR AND BOXER KAREN A. PHILLIPS

Today we sit down for a chat with Karen A. Phillips, author of traditional/cozy mysteries, middle-grade and young adult fantasy, and poetry. Plus, she takes boxing lessons! Learn more about Karen and her books at her website.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

I started writing when I was very young. I also illustrated my stories. When I was in high school, I decided to pursue a career in art. Thus, my writing skills languished. I am a voracious reader and one day I read a mystery story and thought to myself, I can write at least this good!

 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

Believe me, it has taken years to learn the craft of writing and many revisions until I felt the story was ready to publish. The story has been through two critique groups and reviewed by several beta readers. All have given me valuable feedback. I’ve hired a developmental editor and a proofreader. As a self-published author, I have done my due diligence and I hope readers find the story entertaining.

 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

Indie published so far. But I’m open to being traditionally published. We shall see.

 

Where do you write?

At my dining table. Two large windows let in a lot of natural light, and I can watch birds flitting about in the tree outside.

 

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?

Silence is golden for me. My mind wanders with music, and I just want to dance!

 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

The plot for A Deadly Combo came from attending my first trailerfest. And my protagonist is a little like me. Her father is a little like my own dad. The boxing coach is similar to my own trainer. But all other characters are from my imagination.

 

Describe your process for naming your character?

Raquel AKA Rocky Nelson came about because I wanted the novel to revolve around a vintage theme — vintage trailers, memories and memorabilia from childhood, and old movies. The things I mention in the book are based on when I was born in 1960 and the things I grew up with. I realize my readers are going to be older and will appreciate those references. The name Raquel came from the actress Raquel Welch, who sadly passed recently. And the nickname Rocky came from her Dad, who is a boxer. He gave her the name after the movie Rocky came out.

 

Real settings or fictional towns?

Real settings. I’ve spent half my life in El Dorado County, California. I love the area and I hope I’ve described it well.

 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

Opal is one of the vintage trailer owners. She is flamboyant and wears unique clothing, often showing off her voluptuous figure. She wears a Lucille Ball type of costume at the trailerfest, featuring a pin-up era bra to display her “best assets.” LOL

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

Funny question! I tend to speak before thinking and leap before looking. I’m amazed I’m still alive at the age of sixty-two. 

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

Open Season by C. J. Box, the first book in the Joe Picket series. I just love his voice. He keeps you turning the pages and every now and then throws in a little humor.

 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

My do-over would be to have written and published novels much sooner. I also wanted to join the Peace Corps right after high school. I wish I had done that, too.

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

People who are not kind. People who only think of themselves.

 

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

OMG! What a question. Pizza, Chardonnay, and a person to talk to. However, even a volleyball would do. I’d name it Wilson.

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

Working as an artist for a soon-to-go-bankrupt printing press. There were holes in the walls and the ceiling tiles were missing or falling in. They held the press together with duct tape and chewing gum before they closed.

 

Who’s your all-time favorite literary character (any genre)? Why?

Pippi Longstocking. First of all, you gotta love her name. And she could get in and out of a pickle and keep you laughing. I’m of Swedish descent so that might have something to do with my choice. LOL

 

Ocean or mountains?

Can I choose both? I love the ocean for its negative ions and the mystery of life underwater. And I love the mountains for the fresh scent of pine and being above the smog. Also, the views are incredible.

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

Country girl. I used to live in San Francisco, and I enjoyed my time there, but it was for a younger me. I moved to the country (where my novel takes place) because I love wide open spaces, and I always wanted to own a horse. I ended up with three!

 

What’s on the horizon for you?

Book Two in the Rocky Nelson Mystery series, of course. I better get on it!

 

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

I have several short stories in various anthologies. They are all listed on my website.

 

A Deadly Combo

A Rocky Nelson Boxing Mystery, Book 1

 

What do boxing and vintage trailers have in common? Meet Raquel (AKA Rocky) Nelson, a retired single woman with an attitude and love for boxing.

 

Sisters Rocky and Bridget are enjoying each other’s company at a vintage trailerfest until they stumble over a corpse. The dead guy is none other than the local trailer restorer Bridget was overheard threatening to kill. Mounting evidence leads police to focus on Bridget as a person of interest. Desperate to prove her sister innocent of murder, Rocky dons her own deerstalker cap and goes sleuthing until she runs into police detective Thompson who warns her off his case in no uncertain terms. But Rocky is tenacious if not stubborn. Combined with a 78-year-old father who becomes her sidekick, Rocky uses her courage and skills learned in boxing lessons to protect her family and keep from becoming the killer’s next victim.


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Monday, March 20, 2023

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--AN INTERVIEW WITH ROMANTIC SUSPENSE AND MYSTERY AUTHOR SUZANNE BAGINSKIE

Today we sit down for a chat with romantic suspense and mystery author Suzanne Baginskie who's been writing ever since her mother gifted her with a five-year diary for her eighth birthday. She recently retired from a law firm as a paralegal-office manager. Now she writes daily spinning tales of romantic suspense that pair tantalizing mystery with compelling romance. Learn more about Suzanne and her books at her website.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

After years of writing and selling short fiction and nonfiction stories that mostly appeared in romance & mystery anthologies and twenty-two Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies, I dreamed of writing a book that would have only my name on the cover.

 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

After nineteen years, I wrote my first novel and entered a writing contest for a romantic suspense Harlequin line. Three months later, I was notified my book was in the last ten entries, but I didn’t win. The best part was it forced me to write a complete novel that I could rewrite and submit to other publishers. During Covid-19, with time on my hands, I saw a call out for romance manuscripts. I polished up the book and submitted Dangerous Charade. A week later in a Zoom call, I was offered a five-book contract and asked to write a series. 

 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

I’m traditionally published.

 

Where do you write?

Years ago, when we searched for a new home and walked through many different models, I fell in love with my current house because it had a small bonus office. That feature sold me on this particular home. When we moved in, I purchased some large bookshelves, a rolltop desk and matching wooden chair. The area has a large window and also a French door with little glass panes. I keep a Do not Disturb – Writing in Progress sign on the doorknob. It doesn’t keep my hubby out though.

 

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?

Some days, I need pure silence. Other times, I play my favorite radio station with light rock music in the background and then realized I’m so deep into my head at times, I don’t even hear it.

 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

I had a lengthy twenty-nine year career as a paralegal/office manager in a law office that handled criminal cases, divorces, and other general law. I also volunteered for the local Sheriff for nine years and helped with the Citizen Academy classes. I reaped valuable information from them both. Twisted criminal plots are happening almost every day. I watch television shows/movies and the news, read the newspapers, and discovered crazy characters reside around us all. 

 

Describe your process for naming your character?

I name my characters in three different ways. Number one is using a baby book of 60,000 first names. My 2007 edition features the meanings, origins and all the derivations. The last names are harder, I either take the daily obituary column page, and borrow a last name from there, or think about my family and friends and use one or two of them in my stories, first or last name. I get tickled when they notice their name is in my book. Then I know for sure they read them!

 

Real settings or fictional towns?

I like actual town settings and tend to research so I can name the interstates and use city highlights to make the area more realistic. I use FBI buildings in the town vicinity featured in the story. The weather plays an important role in some of my books too. The first is set in a small fishing town of Crystal Springs, Florida, the second in Allentown and the mountains of Pennsylvania and the third in Daytona Beach, Florida. 

 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

In my third book, the male FBI special agent’s wife was ill with cancer and passed away while he was on duty. After he buried her, he just couldn’t bear to take off his wedding ring and wore it for over two years. You’ll have to read it to find out why. When he fell in love with his partner, he wondered what she thought of him still wearing the ring throughout their missions, but he never took it off. At the very end, he finally removed it and stuck it in his drawer before he proposed.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

I’ve realized I’ve been analytical all of my life. Everything I do has to be done logically and not out of order. I’ve established a steady routine and strong habits. I’m also curious, modest, and very observant. Monday through Friday, I begin with an early four-mile walk, and then a shower and breakfast. After that, I go into my office and work on my writing.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,)

which one would it be? Why?

I would choose to write Wizard of Oz, the literary book by L. Frank Baum. As a child, I read this book over and over and it’s still my favorite. As a writer, I realized it gives you the perfect guide to writing a book since every character in it wants and needs something and they go the extra mile to obtain it. 

 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

There is one thing I would do over. I would have chosen the career of a flight attendant. So, I could have earned the status of free flights for life because I love to travel. Since I can’t do it over, I grab every opportunity to see the world with my husband and friends. We do cruise a lot. I’m retired and I make sure there’s always a cruise booked in the near future.

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Lateness! I was brought up to arrive earlier than necessary and I still exist in this manner, so it irks me very much if someone is late.

 

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

Coffee daily, lots of books to read and a roof over my head to protect me.

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

When we first moved to Florida, I took a job at the counter of a drycleaner business. After the clothes were dropped off and the ticket was written, I had to empty the pants and jacket pockets before setting them in the cleaning basket. I hated sticking my hands inside all those pockets, it made me cringe. And I’d pull out the oddest things, dirt included. Crumbled up handkerchiefs or used tissues, grimy combs, and lots of coins. Too bad they didn’t give me rubber gloves back then. I quit after three weeks. 

 

Who’s your all-time favorite literary character (any genre)? Why?

I’ll go with Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of Oz. She landed in an unknown world, killed a witch, and never missed a beat. Then continued on her journey to find a way back home to Kansas and her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. I loved her passion and the perseverance trait she possessed. 

 

Ocean or mountains?

I am a Thalassophile. A lover of the blue ocean. I grew up in New Jersey and always enjoyed our summer trips to the shore. I love walking on the sandy beach when the Atlantic Ocean’s waves crashed against the shoreline and covered my feet. I guess that’s why I’m addicted to cruising. I never tire of gazing at the bluest, foamy topped waves hammering the ship as it sails on sea days to our next port or the long wake it leaves behind it. 

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

City girl for sure. I love to be close to all the shopping malls, grocery stores, churches, and theaters. Plus, the airport and most of all the Florida cruise ports. 

 

What’s on the horizon for you?

Dangerous Undercurrents, Book four in my FBI Affairs series. I’m currently writing my novel and hope to have it completed in the near future. This book will take my FBI characters off dry land and have them board a cruise ship for an adventurous, undercover mission. 

 

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

My husband makes all my business cards and bookmarks. He is so creative and is also an avid reader. His suggestions, support and understanding has really helped me during my entire writing career. I sincerely thank him in this blog. 

 

Dangerous Charade

FBI Affairs, Book 1

 

When an undercover sting in Nevada at a Las Vegas Casino goes wrong, FBI Agent Noelle Farrell’s cover is blown, and someone wants revenge. Noelle is sent to Florida under the Witness Protection Program where she runs into her old partner, FBI Agent Kyle Rivers, a man she worked closely with and admired. Kyle’s mourning his father. He failed to keep him safe from a deadly stalker. Deep in hiding as a witness for the IRS, someone targets Noelle. She fears for herself and her four-year-old daughter’s safety. Noelle struggles to keep her independence. Kyle vows to protect Noelle, unaware she has a secret—one her assailants already know.

 

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Friday, March 17, 2023

GREEN BAGELS, GREEN BEER, AND A .99 CENT SALE

Woo-hoo! It’s St. Patrick’s Day, and that means Spring is right around the corner. While you wash down your green bagels with green beer today, you can also celebrate the end of the winter doldrums with some murder, mayhem, crafts, and laughs because throughout March, the Amazon #1 bestselling Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, Books 3-4 is on sale for only .99 cents. Sláinte!

Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, Books 3-4

Revenge of the Crafty Corpse and Decoupage Can Be Deadly

 

Revenge of the Crafty Corpse  Anastasia Pollack’s dead louse of a spouse has left her with more bills than you can shake a crochet hook at. Teaching craft classes at her mother-in-law’s assisted living center seems like an easy way to supplement her meager income. But when Lyndella Wegner—a 98-year-old know-it-all with a penchant for ruffles and lace—turns up dead, Anastasia’s cantankerous mother-in-law becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Upon discovering that Lyndella’s scandalous craft projects—and her scandalous behavior—made her plenty of enemies, Anastasia sets out to find the real killer before her mother-in-law ends up behind bars.

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 now 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 show up in court. She’s found dead days later, stuffed in the shipping crate 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?

Craft projects included in both books.

 

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Wednesday, March 15, 2023

AUTHOR HEIDI ELIASON'S 5-YEAR ROADTRIP

Ever feel like packing up and running away? Today's guest, freelance writer and editor Heidi Eliason, did just that and is here today to talk about her adventure. Heidi's past work includes writing for an RV adventure company, producing more than fifty RV travel articles for an online news source, and editing multiple books. Confessions of a Middle-Aged Runaway is her first published book. You can learn more about Heidi and her book at her website.

I never wanted to write a memoir. Although I had known for years that I loved to write, publishing a deeply personal book that revealed embarrassing truths about myself was never on my to-do list. Writing mysteries or suspense thrillers was something I could imagine myself doing some day, after my daughter was raised and I had more time to pursue my own interests. But life is often full of surprises.

 

Selling my house, quitting my job, and buying a motorhome to hit the road with my dog at the age of forty-five felt necessary for my sanity and survival. Burned out from decades of working long hours and struggling to make ends meet as a single parent, I found myself envying the homeless for what seemed like freedom from schedules, commutes, and responsibilities. I craved freedom, adventure, and romance. I desperately needed a major life change. Facing an empty nest after my daughter went off to college, I longed to regain the passion for life I had somehow lost along the way.

 

But first I had to face my fears and overcome the challenges of driving a thirty-foot motorhome while towing a car up and down mountains. There were flat tires, leaking water pumps, fried electrical cords, and misbehaving water heaters to deal with. It was a huge learning experience, and I gained confidence with each problem I conquered.

 

The new friends I found during my travels made all the struggles worthwhile and added to the fun that had been missing from my life for so long. Hiking new trails, meeting newborn gray whales, cavorting with dolphins, and witnessing the magic of bioluminescence in the Sea of Cortez allowed me to experience the beauty of nature and wildlife like I never had before. I felt alive again.

 

I fell in love, after what had been a very long dry spell in between relationships, only to discover I had fallen for Mr. Wrong. I battled with my longing for romance and my conscience before realizing who I really was and what was most important. After five years, my life was transformed, and I felt like a new person.

 

Many people told me while I was traveling that I was living their dream. It was surprising to learn how many people wanted to do the very same thing. After returning from my travels, I found myself writing about my experiences, still processing this amazing time. The members of my writing group encouraged me to turn the stories into a memoir. I thought it might help others who were feeling stuck in life to learn how I became unstuck and regained my passion for living. Confessions of a Middle-Aged Runaway is an honest retelling of the good, the bad, and the magic of one woman’s surprising life transformation.

 

Confessions of a Middle-Aged Runaway

An RV Travel Adventure

 

Have you ever felt suffocated by your routine and responsibilities, or just longed for some adventure? Heidi Eliason did, so at the age of forty-five, she quit her job, sold her house, bought a motorhome, and embarked on a five-year road trip with her dog Rylie. It was a journey that transformed her life.

 

Through the challenges of managing the Green Monster—her motorhome—traveling in Mexico, and getting derailed by Mr. Wrong, she learned—sometimes the hard way—that chasing the corporate ladder and storybook romance was not always a sure route to happiness. She struggled with insecurities, faced her fears, and dug her way out of depression.

 

By taking a leap into the unknown, Heidi found a new community of friends, met wildlife, traveled the Baja Peninsula, discovered the magic of the sea, and experienced freedom like she had never known.

 

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Monday, March 13, 2023

AUTHOR DONALEE MOULTON ON SETTING A MYSTERY IN HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

Halifax, Nova Scotia
Donalee Moulton is a writer and freelance journalist. Her mystery short stories have appeared in Cold Canadian Crime and Black Cat WeeklyHung out to Die is her first full-length mystery. She’s also the author of The Thong Principle: Saying What You Mean and Meaning What You Say and the co-authored of Celebrity Court Cases. Learn more about Donalee and her books at her website

In the right place

Locating your characters where they belong

 

Céad míle fáilteThis Gaelic expression means “a hundred thousand welcomes.” If you live in Nova Scotia, as I do, this is an expression you will have seen for much of your life. (Pronouncing it is a different issue altogether.) A hundred thousand welcomes in any language speaks to the type of people you are likely to encounter when you come here and the values they place on such encounters.

 

Riel Brava – attractive, razor-sharp, ambitious, and something much more –

is the lead character in my new mystery, Hung Out to Die. He lives in Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, about a 40-minute drive from Halifax, the province’s capital. In East Coast parlance, Riel is a come from away. 

 

Fact is, I could have placed Riel in the middle of anywhere. The murder is not location specific. The victim does not fall from the Brooklyn Bridge or mysteriously appear atop Old Faithful, places that are singular. Nova Scotia made sense for me as a writer, and it made sense for Riel as a character. I live here; I know this province better than any other place. I can write about it with ease, and with a personal perspective.

 

For Riel, who lives uncomfortably in a world where people hug each other because they care and share the pain of others because their brain is wired that way, being in a place where he does not have roots, where he is an outsider, mirrors what goes on within Riel. It’s the right place for him.

 

Because I am from Nova Scotia, I can also authentically and naturally insert elements of life here. Take the language, for instance. You may discover some new words such as bejesus and tinchlet. There will be expressions common to the area. “Bless your heart” is one you’ll hear a lot in Nova Scotia, and Riel hears it as well. 

 

There is also food that has Nova Scotia marinated into it, as Riel discovers when he has a donair for the first time Donairs are a Halifax specialty and considered by some to be Nova Scotia’s official food. Aficionados spend a great deal of time discussing the nuances of the dish, thin slices of spiced beef on a warm pita, sprinkled with diced onion and tomato, and swimming in a sweet, garlicky sauce. 

 

One of the things I have learned as a writer is that I am in control, and I am not in control. I can decide to situate a character in a particular place, and the character will let me know if that is the right place as the writing unfolds. In the case of Riel, he ends up in the dark of winter at a deserted row of cottages called, what else, Céad míle fáilte.

 

I did not see that coming. I have a feeling Riel did.

 

Hung Out to Die

 

Meet Riel Brava. Attractive. Razor-sharp. Ambitious. And something much more. 

 

Riel, raised in Santa Barbara, California, has been transplanted to Nova Scotia where he is CEO of the Canadian Cannabis Corporation. It’s business as usual until Riel finds his world hanging by a thread. Actually, several threads. It doesn’t take the police long to determine all is not as it appears – and that includes Riel himself.

 

Pulled into a world not of his making, Riel resists the hunt to catch a killer. Resistance is futile. Detective Lin Raynes draws the reluctant CEO into the investigation, and the seeds of an unexpected and unusual friendship are sown. Raynes and Riel concoct a scheme to draw a confession out of the killer, but that plan is never put into place. Instead, Riel finds himself on the butt end of a rifle in the ribs and a long drive to the middle of Nowhere, Nova Scotia.

 

Why would someone want Norm dead, innocuous Norman Bedwell? A motive for murder is buried somewhere, and self-professed psychopath and cannabis production manager, Riel Brava, works with Detective Lin Raynes, aided by endless exotic coffee blends, to find it. As the noose tightens on an increasingly smaller number of suspects, who knew finding a murderer would be so simple? 

 

In the end, of course, it isn’t.

 

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