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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VOTE FOR ANASTASIA!

I'll admit, there are some perks to being a reluctant amateur sleuth. Today I'm thrilled to announce that Stitch, Bake, Die!, the 10th Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, has been nominated for a Silver Falchion Award for Best Cozy Mystery of 2022 and also for a Readers Choice Award. The Readers Choice Award is open to voting by the public. Click here for the ballot. You'll need to scroll all the way down the list to the second from the bottom title because the list is alphabetical by author last name. Winners will be announced on August 20^th at the Killer Nashville Conference. Lois and I would really appreciate your vote.

Guilty as Framed, the next Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, will be released four weeks from tomorrow. It’s currently available for pre-order. Meanwhile, Lois Winston, the author who has turned my life upside-down since she first began writing about me, is mulling over ideas for how she’s going to drop another dead body or two or three into my life in the next book. 

Yes, there will be a next book. Lois assures me there will always be a next book as long as readers continue to want to read about me and the adventures she creates for me. I suppose I should feel honored, but honestly, life as an amateur sleuth is exhausting!

 

Take this latest book, for example. You wouldn’t believe what happens to me! Of course, everything turns out okay in the end because in cozy mysteries the sleuth always prevails. However, getting from crime to solution involves quite a few twists and turns, especially in this latest book. No spoilers here, though. You’ll just have to read Guilty as Framed for yourself to discover what happens.

I will say, though, that there are some interesting red herrings in this book. I’d like to think I’m experienced enough at this point, given all the dead bodies Lois has dropped into my life, that I’d figure out whodunnit easily enough, but this one had me guessing for the longest time. And believe me when I say that something very exciting happens at the end of this book!

Guilty as Framed

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 11

 

When an elderly man shows up at the home of reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack, she’s drawn into the unsolved mystery of the greatest art heist in history. 

 

Boston mob boss Cormac Murphy has recently been released from prison. He doesn’t believe Anastasia’s assertion that the man he’s looking for doesn’t live at her address and attempts to muscle his way into her home. His efforts are thwarted by Anastasia’s fiancé Zack Barnes. 

 

A week later, a stolen SUV containing a dead body appears in Anastasia’s driveway. Anastasia believes Murphy is sending her a message. It’s only the first in a series of alarming incidents, including a mugging, a break-in, another murder, and the discovery of a cache of jewelry and an etching from the largest museum burglary in history.

 

But will Anastasia solve the mystery behind these shocking events before she falls victim to a couple of desperate thugs who will stop at nothing to get what they want?

 

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THIS JERSEY GIRL IS HERE TO STAY--FINGERS CROSSED!

The Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries

My author Lois Winston recently relocated from New Jersey to Tennessee to be closer to family. Lois was born and bred in the Garden State and except for a stint in Philadelphia and its suburbs, has lived in New Jersey her entire life. Until now.

When Lois created me, she created another Jersey Girl, maybe because she never had a daughter of her own, only sons. And although Lois had the temerity to make me a reluctant amateur sleuth instead of one of the heroines in her romance novels, for which I’ve never forgiven her, I’m glad she chose New Jersey for the setting of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. 

 

When you grow up in New Jersey, you develop Jersey ‘tude. You have to in order to deal with all the insensitive comments from the rest of the country. We’re the butt of many a late-night comedian’s joke—even those who happen to live here. I have no idea why. I’ve been to most of the other forty-nine states in the U.S., and in my opinion, many of them fall far short of New Jersey. 

 

Out-of-staters think we’re nothing but strip malls. To them I say, come visit Westfield or Haddonfield or Princeton or Summit or Chatham…I could go on and on. We have dozens and dozens of quaint towns, many of which have been used as settings in movies and TV shows. And no matter where you live in New Jersey, within a relatively short time you can be in the mountains or down the shore. (Yes, we call it down the shore. Other people go to the beach or the seaside but not those of us from the Garden State.) Plus, if you live in the northern half of the state, as I do, you’re a short train or car ride from Manhattan. Theaters and museums galore!

 

New Jersey has culture, sports, and cow pastures. Horse farms and high-rises. We’re home to the famous and the infamous. We probably have more authors per capita living in New Jersey than any other state. 

 

We even legally own the Statue of Liberty, but try telling that to New York. However, since they usurped our national landmark, we took their beloved football teams. That’s right, folks, for those of you who live in other parts of the country, both the New York Giants and the New York Jets play in New Jersey. 

 

However, because we’ve had to put up with so much negative press and razzing for so long, those of us from New Jersey have had to develop a tough hide. We’re also known for our sense of humor, which runs more toward snark than Minnesota Nice. 

 

I’ve had to channel my inner Jersey Strong to cope with what Lois has dumped on me—kidnappings, Mafia loan sharks, a communist mother-in-law, and more dead bodies than I can count at this point. I cope with it all by channeling my Jersey ‘tude and sense of humor. 

 

But right now, I’m getting a bit nervous about whether Lois will allow me to continue living in New Jersey or if she’ll force me to move to Middle Tennessee. She tells me you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you can’t take New Jersey out of the girl. That sounds ominous. I’m hoping she’s only toying with me. But if she isn’t, I just may go on strike and give her a whopping case of Writer’s Block. We fictional characters do have some tricks up our sleeves.

#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--CHRISTMAS IN JULY!

A snowman in July? Absolutely! Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide, the eight novel in the series where author Lois Winston gets her kicks by continually involving me in murder and mayhem is now available for pre-order at all the usual suspects (Do you like the crime reference I tossed in there?) The woman just won’t leave me alone, even at Christmas. It may be July for all of you reading this, but thanks to Lois, it’s Christmas in my world, and once again there’s a dead body. You’ll never guess who discovers it. (she said with unmasked sarcasm).

Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide opens days before Christmas:

Two and a half weeks ago magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack arrived home to find Ira Pollack, her half-brother-in-law, had blinged out her home with enough Christmas lights to rival Rockefeller Center. Now he’s crammed her small yard with enormous cavorting inflatable characters. She and photojournalist boyfriend (and possible spy) Zack Barnes pack up the unwanted lawn decorations to return to Ira. They arrive to find his yard the scene of an over-the-top Christmas extravaganza. His neighbors are not happy with the animatronics, laser light show, and blaring music creating traffic jams on their normally quiet street. One of them expresses his displeasure with his fists before running off.

In the excitement, the deflated lawn ornaments are never returned to Ira. The next morning Anastasia once again heads to his house before work to drop them off. When she arrives, she discovers Ira’s attacker dead in Santa’s sleigh. Ira becomes the prime suspect in the man’s murder and begs Anastasia to help clear his name. But Anastasia has promised her sons she’ll keep her nose out of police business. What’s a reluctant amateur sleuth to do?

You know Lois has me breaking my promise to my kids, right? After all, she wouldn’t have an amateur sleuth plot if I sat back and let the police handle the investigation. However, in my defense, I really did have the best of intentions this time, but Lois, as usual, had other ideas. No telling what she has in store for me next time.

Check out the first chapter here. And while you're at it, take a look at Lois's newly designed website.

Pre-Order the Ebook now. Print edition available October 1, 2019.
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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--ANASTASIA ON THE CHARACTERS READERS LOVE TO HATE

Who would have thought this cute baby would grow up to inspire the character readers love to hate?

Monday marks the official release for Drop Dead Ornaments, the seventh book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, the series author Lois Winston writes about me, her reluctant amateur sleuth. Readers often ask Lois where she gets the ideas for the characters in the series—yours truly and the others. So today I thought I’d divulge a few not-so-secret secrets.

To begin, you need to know the idea for the series came about from a combination of events in Lois’s life. First and foremost, an editor told Lois’s agent that she was looking for a crafting mystery series. Knowing Lois was a designer of needlework kits and projects for various companies and publishers, Lois’s agent thought she’d be the perfect person to write such a series, even though Lois was a romance author at the time. However, since her agent had faith in her, Lois decided she was up for the challenge.

At the same time, Lois’s husband had recently lost his job, and although he’s nothing like my Dead Louse of a Spouse, it sent her into a tailspin of worry regarding money. On top of that, she was also dealing with escalating mother-in-law problems. And finally, when Lois first started contemplating the series, The Sopranos was still airing on HBO. Lois is a Jersey girl. How could she not set a mystery in her home state and involve the Mafia in some way? (Of course, she didn’t consider me in her decision!) Anyway, all of these elements came together to form the basis for Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries.

The premise for the series, as many of you know, is that when my gambling-addicted husband permanently cashes in his chips in Las Vegas, my life craps out. I’m left with two teenage sons, a mountain of debt, and a loan shark demanding fifty thousand dollars. Over the course of the series, I’ve looked for ways to whittle down that massive debt, a task made more difficult by my spend-thrift mother, a self-proclaimed descendant of Russian nobility, and my curmudgeon mother-in-law, a card-carrying communist, both of whom lived with me for the first few books in the series. Mama is now settled in her own condo, but you’d never know it since she’s always at my house—especially at mealtime.

And then there are the dead bodies—lots of dead bodies! It’s not like I work in law enforcement. However, since my husband’s death, I keep stumbling across murder victims, hardly something any magazine crafts editor should have to deal with.

According to Lois, she’s always been drawn to quirky characters. They make her laugh. It’s the reason she write humorous amateur sleuth mysteries rather than traditional cozy mysteries. She thinks we need more laughter in the world because there’s enough that keeps us from laughing in real life. I get it, considering I haven’t had much to laugh about since she took over my life. I just wish she’d chosen someone else as her protagonist, rather than picking on me. However, aside from the dead husband with a penchant for gambling and all those dead bodies, Lois based much of my life on her own. (Disclaimer: Her husband has never been to a casino, and she’s never tripped over a dead body.)

As for the rest of the characters in the series, most are based in part on people Lois has known. She takes traits from various people, exaggerates them (Let’s face it, most people aren’t as quirky in real life as they are in fiction), and blends them together to create unique characters.

The exception is Lucille, my mother-in-law. With a few minor exceptions, Lucille’s personality (along with her communist leanings) mirrors that of Lois’s now deceased mother-in-law. Poor girl. Once I learned this, I completely understood her need for a little cathartic retribution via fiction. Her mother-in-law made the Wicked Witch of the West look like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms. And that’s not just Lois’s opinion. Many others felt the same way, but Lois received the brunt of her venom.

Some readers have suggested Lois kill off Lucille; others love her, probably because they see some of their own mothers-in-law in her. After all, misery does love company. As for some of the other recurring characters in the series, I’ll leave them to a future blog post.

Drop Dead Ornaments

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 7

Anastasia Pollack’s son Alex is dating Sophie Lambert, the new kid in town. For their community service project, the high school seniors have chosen to raise money for the county food bank. Anastasia taps her craft industry contacts to donate materials for the students to make Christmas ornaments they’ll sell at the town’s annual Holiday Crafts Fair.

At the fair Anastasia meets Sophie’s father, Shane Lambert, who strikes her as a man with secrets. She also notices a woman eavesdropping on their conversation. Later that evening when the woman turns up dead, Sophie’s father is arrested for her murder.

Alex and Sophie beg Anastasia to find the real killer, but Anastasia has had her fill of dead bodies. She’s also not convinced of Shane’s innocence. Besides, she’s promised younger son Nick she’ll stop risking her life. But how can she say no to Alex?

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#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--FABRIC SCRAP CRAFT IDEAS

Waste not, want not. That’s what my great-aunt Penelope Periwinkle used to say, and now that I’m counting every penny, I realize how right she was. But even before pauperdom walloped me upside the head, I always saved all the fabric scraps from my sewing projects. If you’ve ever had to buy 1/8-yd. of fabric because you needed one 3” x 12” strip, you know how right I am. I keep all my scraps of fabric in a plastic storage bin, and it’s amazing how often I find myself rooting through that bin to find exactly what I need. However, sometimes the storage bin gets to overflowing. When that happens, I have lots of project ideas stored away for using up some of that overflow. Here are a few I’ll share with you today.

*Make sachet bags to drape over your clothes hangers or place in dresser drawers.

*Create drawstring gift bags for odd-shaped or any-size presents. You’ll be giving the recipient two gifts in one because afterwards, the gift bag can be used to hold jewelry, lingerie, toiletries, or just about anything else. Decorate the bags with smaller scraps of fabric and scraps of ribbon and lace.

*Make a crazy quilt fabric-covered picture frame. Embellish the frame with ribbon, lace, buttons, and beads.

*Cut out small simple shapes, such as hearts. Sew two together and stuff for ornaments or gift package decorations. Glue them to pin backs or barrettes for soft-sculpture jewelry.

*Glue or fuse fabric to heavy paper and use as appliqués for hand-made greeting cards and gift tags.

*Cut fabrics of different textures, patterns, and colors into 3”, 4”, or 5” squares. Sew six squares of the same size together to form a cube, then stuff. These make wonderful, tactile soft blocks for babies and toddlers.

*Make yo-yo’s in various sizes to embellish clothing or craft projects.

Several of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries feature fabric scrap craft projects or projects that include fabric scraps.

ANASTASIA TALKS TO THE ANIMALS--AND THEY OFTEN TALK BACK!

I’ve always been fascinated by the ability of animals to communicate with each other and even more so with humans. It seems logical that animals would have some way of communicating within their own species. We constantly see examples of them working together, and in order to do this, they must have some way of communicating with each other.

For example, all you have to do is observe a flock of birds flying in “V” formation. Watch as the leader slips back to allow another bird to take the lead. How do they designate the next bird to fly point? Instinct? I don’t think so. They must be communicating in some way. Otherwise chaos would ensue with birds constantly flying into one another.

We know that dolphins speak to each other. Whales, too. And some gorillas have been taught to communicate with humans via sign language. None of this is new. However, the other day I stumbled upon a news clip that claimed chimpanzees speak with accents. Not only that but these accents are learned.

In 2010 nine chimps were moved from The Netherlands to the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland. The chimps originally used a high-pitched noise to ask for apples. However, after living with the Scottish chimps for a while, the Dutch chimps began to use a low grunt to ask for apples, the same sound made by the Scottish chimps. Check out the video to see the difference between the Dutch and Scottish accents.

Manifesto aka Mephisto aka Devil Dog

Those of you familiar with the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series know that I share my home with Manifesto, my mother-in-law’s communist French bulldog (I refer to him as Mephisto or Devil Dog); my mother’s Persian cat who is named for the Russian Empress Catherine the Great; and Ralph, the Shakespeare-spouting African Grey parrot I inherited from Great-aunt Penelope Periwinkle. They all communicate in their own unique ways—both with each other and the two-legged mammals of the family.

Catherine the Great

I’ve read novels where the authors have assigned points of view to the pets in their books. I’ve never gone that far, probably because doing so would move me from writing reality-based fiction into the realm of fantasy. Even so, the animals in my books definitely have their say.

Ralph, the Shakespeare-quoting parrot

Find out more about all the books in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series here. 

#FASHION WITH TESSA—FROM DRYER TO CANVAS TO COUTURE

According to author Lois Winston, who writes about all of us here at American Woman in her Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, one of the most common questions authors are asked is, “Where do you get the ideas for your books?” She says her ideas for characters, scenes, and plots often bloom from actual people and events. Often something will happen in her own life, or an event will occur that she reads about in the newspaper or see on the news, and she stores it away for future reference, knowing it’s too good not to use in a book.

Case in point: March 6, 2011. Lois and her husband were watching “Sunday Morning” on CBS. Bill Geist was interviewing a woman by the name of Laura Bell who creates paintings out of dryer lint. Her masterpiece is a 14-foot x 4-foot replica of Leonardo daVinci’s “The Last Supper,” which took her 7 months of lint collecting and 200 hours to create. “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” bought the piece for $12,000. Really. I’m not making this up. You can see a video of the interview here. 

Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, had debuted two months prior to this interview appearing on television. Lois had already turned in Death by Killer Mop Doll, the second book in the series and had begun work on Revengeof the Crafty Corpse.

In Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, Lyndella Wegner, a 98-year-old resident of an assisted living facility is a consummate crafter with a penchant for anything X-rated. The moment Lois saw Bill Geist’s interview of Laura Bell, she knew Lyndella had to create lint paintings. Her piece de resistance is a three-foot tall, two-dimensional reproduction of Michelangelo’s masterpiece, “David,” down to every anatomical detail, minus any censoring of a certain body part.

Now, some might read Revenge of the Crafty Corpse and scoff at the idea of anyone painting with lint. Some readers might think Lyndella is a totally unrealistic character. Painting with dryer lint does sound kind of absurd, doesn’t it? But truth is often stranger than fiction. Laura Bell and her $12,000 check from Ripley’s certainly proved that.

Fast forward to the present. Paris Fashion Week wrapped up a few weeks ago. Designers often like to push the envelope with their runway shows, featuring fashions that will never take up residence in the average woman’s closet. Some push the envelope more so than others. This year no one pushed that envelope more than the designers of Comme des Garçons. When Lois saw photos of the fashions they presented in Paris, she had to wonder if they had read about Anastasia’s adventures in Revenge of the Crafty Corpse and taken the idea of lint paintings to another level, moving the dryer lint from the canvas to couture.

What do you think?

Revenge of the Crafty Corpse

Book 3 of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries

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.

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--THE SPRINKLES BAKING BOOK

Anyone who has read about me in Lois Winston’s Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series knows that I love cupcakes and muffins—both baking them and eating them. As the food editor at American Woman magazine, where Anastasia and I work, I not only bake up my own confections, but I get to sample ones from various bakeries and food companies across the country, all looking for a thumbs-up mention in the magazine. (Check out the various flavors of the adult-only liqueur cupcakes in Decoupage Can BeDeadly.)

As you might imagine, I have an extensive collection of cookbooks. (Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m a cookbookaholic.) Today I thought I’d share with you my latest purchase, The Sprinkles Baking Book: 100 Secret Recipes from Candace's Kitchen by Candace Nelson.

For those of you who don’t recognize the author’s name, pastry chef Candace Nelson was the founder of Sprinkles, the very first cupcakes-only bakery, opened in 2005. She’s also been a judge on the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars. (Watching baking shows is high on my list of guilty pleasures.)

However, I've found this baking book too special to shelve with the rest of my collection. It’s not only filled with wonderful recipes for all sorts of delectable cupcakes, muffins, cakes, pies, cookies, and other desserts, it’s part art book due to the wonderful photographic images. In my home it now resides in a place of honor on my coffee table, easily within reach for perusing whenever the urge strikes.

In The Sprinkles Baking Book: 100 Secret Recipes from Candace's Kitchen, which is also Candace’s first cookbook, you’ll not only find 100 of her favorite recipes, including 50 Sprinkles cupcake recipes, she’s even created a few new cupcakes especially for this book. My favorite is the crème brûlée. And if all that weren’t enough, there are even some guest recipes from various Sprinkles fans such as Barbara Streisand, Reese Witherspoon, and Julia Roberts.

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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR LOIS WINSTON

Author Lois Winston writes the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series (sound familiar? Hint: it’s the series about moi!) as well as romance, romantic suspense, women’s fiction, and non-fiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Her most recent release is Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, the third book in the series about moi. Today she stops by to share with us some very special quotes about the value of reading. Learn more about Lois at her website and her Emma Carlyle website. – AP

25 Quotes on the Worth of Reading

When I was a child, I escaped into books. They were my refuge from a childhood that was less than ideal. So it always comes as a shock to me when people tell me they don’t read. I can’t imagine a world without books to read, whether they be physical books or ebooks. Here are some thoughts on the topic by others:

1. You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend. -- Paul Sweeney

2. Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.  -- Charles William Eliot

3.  What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though. -- J.D. Salinger

4. In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you. -- Mortimer J. Adler

5. Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home. -- Anna Quindlen

6. You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive. -- James Baldwin

7. The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours -- Alan Bennett

8. Today a reader, tomorrow a leader. -- Margaret Fuller

9. A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.  -- Chinese Proverb

10. Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new after all.  -- Abraham Lincoln

11. So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall. -- Roald Dahl

12. To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting. -- Edmund Burke

13. A house without books is like a room without windows. --  Heinrich Mann

14. A truly good book teaches me better than to read it.  I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.  -- Henry David Thoreau

15. To read a book for the first time is to make an acquaintance with a new friend; to read it for a second time is to meet an old one.  -- Chinese Saying

16. Give me a man or woman who has read a thousand books, and you give me an interesting companion. Give me a man or woman who has read perhaps three, and you give me a dangerous enemy mind. -- Anne Rice

17. The habit of reading is the only enjoyment in which there is no alloy; it lasts when all other pleasures fade. -- Anthony Trollope

18. We read to know we are not alone. -- C.S. Lewis

19. No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance. – Confucius

20. The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of the past centuries. – Descartes

21. The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. -- Dr. Seuss

22. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few are to be chewed and digested. -- Francis Bacon

23. Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. -- Frederick Douglass

24. Read in order to live. -- Gustave Flaubert

25. A book is the most effective weapon against intolerance and ignorance. -- Lyndon Baines Johnson

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, and teaching craft classes at her mother-in-law’s assisted living center seems like a harmless 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.

Buy links: (ebook) (paperback)

AN ANASTASIA POLLACK CRAFTING MINI-MYSTERY

We don’t usually post on Saturdays, but author Lois Winston has sent me on another adventure, and this baby is hot off the cyber-presses. Did you notice the new cover over on the right sidebar? Crewel Intentions is an Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mystery. For those of you anxiously awaiting next month’s release of Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, think of it as a little appetizer to tide you over while you await the main course.

In this short story addition to the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series about moi, I receive a desperate phone call from former American Woman fashion editor Erica Milano. You remember Erica, don’t you? She was fashion editor Marlys Vandenberg’s assistant in Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun and took over as fashion editor when my glue gun dispatched Marlys to that big catwalk in the sky.

Erica is now in Witness Protection and living under a new identity in Western Pennsylvania. But someone is stalking her, and she has compelling reasons why she can’t go to the police or notify her Witsec handlers. I’m the only person she can trust to help her (lucky me!) and she knows I won’t let her down. After all, she once saved my life.

But will I be able to return the favor before the stalker strikes?

Want a nibble? There’s an excerpt on Lois’s website.

Crewel Intentions is available as an ebook only from Amazon right now. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow it for free. Otherwise, it’s a mere $1.99.

Kindle buy link