THIS WEEK'S BOOK AND SAFETY WHISTLE WINNERS

Thanks to all who stopped by this week at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. We hope you'll come back often and also tell your friends about us. We have lots of exciting posts and guests planned for the months ahead. 


This week we had two giveaways from our guest bloggers. I'd like to thank K.M. Fawcett for offering one of her safety whistles to one of our readers. The winner of the safety whistle is Kathleen Ernst.


I’d also like to thank Weyman Jones for being our Book Club Friday guest and offering a copy of MESSAGES to one of our readers who posted a comment this week. The winner of MESSAGES is Caridad Pineiro. 


Ladies, please email your mailing addresses to me at anastasiapollack@gmail.com. I’ll forward the information to K.M. and Weyman, and they’ll mail your prizes to you. Happy reading! -- Anastasia

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- GUEST AUTHOR L.J. SELLERS

Today’s Book Club Friday guest author is L.J. Sellers. L.J. is an award-winning journalist and the author of the Detective Jackson mystery/suspense series based in Eugene, OR. The first two books, THE SEX CLUB and SECRETS TO DIE FOR, have been highly praised. The third book in the series, THRILLED TO DEATH, was released in August. Her next Jackson novel, PASSIONS OF THE DEAD, will be published in 2011. L.J. also has two standalone thrillers, THE SUICIDE EFFECT was just released for Kindle and will be available in print soon. THE BABY THIEF will be released soon. When not plotting murders, L.J. enjoys performing standup comedy, cycling, social networking, attending mystery conferences, and editing fiction manuscripts. She’s also been known to jump out of airplanes. You can read more about L.J. at her website. -- AP

Thank you, Anastasia. I may seem like a new novelist on the scene, but the truth is I’ve always been a writer. I earned a journalism degree soon out of high school, and I’ve worked most of my life as a newspaper journalist and magazine editor.

I’ve always loved reading fiction too. So it was inevitable that I would eventually combine those passions and write crime fiction. I started out writing thrillers, then eventually got the idea for THE SEX CLUB, the first in my series. The story required two main characters, one of which was a homicide detective. It seemed logical to create a character I could come back to in future stories, one that I liked and respected enough to keep writing about if readers liked him and wanted more.

That’s why Detective Jackson is not a typical alcoholic, depressed, burnt-out cop like you see in many police procedurals. He’s a devoted father, who struggles to squeeze in time with his young teenage daughter when he’s working round the clock on hard-to-solve homicides. And I always give him challenging cases! In his free time, Jackson restores old cars and builds trikes with his daughter. He’s a composite of two homicide detectives I interviewed, with some of my husband thrown in.

Jackson’s main strengths are his integrity and his compassion. As a twenty-year police officer, he struggles to maintain both. In his line of work, with escalating violence, budget cuts, and a revolving-door jail, it would be easy for him to take short cuts to get the job done, and it would be natural to become cynical. He resists both. As a homicide detective who encounters troubled people all the time, his compassion can also be a weakness.

It’s challenging to keep a series character interesting, with subtle evolutions, while not making major changes that readers will object to. Fortunately, my plots have provided organic ways for Jackson to grow personally as he works through the case complications and examines his own perceptions. Several readers have commented that they love the way Jackson processes information and comes to realizations.

People always want to know where I get my unique ideas. I have a busy brain that’s always looking at situations and asking questions. My plots are usually a combination of some real crime I’ve read about that got stuck in my head and a social/political issue that I feel passionately about. I bounce the two things off each other, trying to see how I can make them fit together.

My newest novel, releasing this month, is more of a pure thriller, and the plot came out of the question: What happens to all the women who disappear? There are so many possibilities.

Here’s the back cover copy for THRILLED TO DEATH: Monday morning, a young mother disappears after a doctor’s appointment. Monday evening, a young socialite leaves a risqué lounge and never makes it home. Detective Jackson lands both cases, but at first he can’t find signs of foul play. When the socialite turns up dead, his investigation uncovers her dirty secrets, which complicates everything.

The case runs into even bigger trouble with a suspect who hasn’t left his house in a year. Jackson must push all the boundaries to find the connection and answer the question: Where is the other missing woman?

It’s impossible to discuss the development of this plot without revealing several of the twists. And this story has plenty of surprises! Mystery reviewer Jacks Quick says, “Ms. Sellers has a delightfully twisted mind and the talent to take her unsuspecting readers down trails that fork and bend and curve and twist … You are gonna love this one.” (And I love Jack Quick for saying that. )

Thanks for stopping by, L.J.!

 L.J. is giving away a copy of THE SEX CLUB to one lucky person who posts a comment to the blog this week. So if you want to be eligible and haven’t posted a comment yet, now’s your chance. And don’t forget to stop back tomorrow to see who the lucky winner is. -- AP 

THIS WEEK'S BOOK WINNER

Thanks to all who stopped by this week at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. We hope you'll come back often and also tell your friends about us. We have lots of exciting posts and guests planned for the months ahead. I’d also like to thank Mary Jane Maffini and Charlotte Adams for being our Book Club Friday guest author and “closet” sleuth yesterday and for offering a copy of Organize Your Corpse to one of our readers who posted a comment this week. The winner this week is Kittycat. Kittycat, please email your mailing address to me at anastasiapollack@gmail.com. I’ll forward your address to Mary Jane, and she’ll mail your book to you. Happy reading! -- Anastasia

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- GUEST AUTHOR MARY KENNEDY

Today at Book Club Friday, I’d like to welcome multi-published author Mary Kennedy. Mary is a licensed psychologist and the author of the Talk Radio Mysteries. Dead Air was the first book in the series. Reel Murder is her latest release. In this series, described as "Frasier” meets “Murder She Wrote,” Maggie Walsh leaves her clinical psychology practice in Manhattan to move to sunny Cypress Grove, a small south Florida town. She joins the staff of local radio station WYME (great name, huh?) to host a daily talk show called “On the Couch with Maggie Walsh” where she dispenses humor, advice and a few psychological insights. And then the murders start.

You can visit Mary at www.marykennedy.net. Mary has graciously offered a copy of both Dead Air and Reel Murder to one lucky reader here at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. All you have to do to be eligible is post a comment. -- AP

WHEN WRITERS GET TOGETHER: THE HART TO HEART PROJECT

It all began with Carolyn Hart.

When Carolyn heard that I was sending a few books and home-made goodies to the 389^th Renegades in Iraq, she made an interesting offer. “Let me send twenty pounds of coffee, snacks and home-made goodies to celebrate the publication of Laughed ‘Til He Died. And some autographed books. It’s the twentieth release in the Death on Demand series, and this would be a nice way to commemorate the event.”

Nice?  It was fabulous!  A very generous offer, indeed. I was thrilled.  We decided to call it the “Hart to Heart Project.” 

Carolyn was as good as her word, sending more than twenty pounds of goodies and books to the troops.

But it didn’t stop there. We received such a positive response from the “389^th Renegades,” that we kept on going.  We had to! They said they loved these boxes from home.

Other writers heard about the project and joined us.  Kate Collins sent autographed copies of some wonderful titles in her FlowerShop Mysteries. JB Stanley sent not only autographed copies of The Supper Club Mysteries and the Hope Street Church Mysteries,  but a big box of goodies. When Beth Ciotta heard about the project, she sent autographed copies of her fabulous romantic comedies featuring the irrepressible Evie Parish. Julie Hyzy joined in with an autographed copy of Eggsective Orders, one of her terrific White House Chef Mysteries. Jim Ciullo sent Maracaibo, Robin Burcell sent The Bone Chamber  and Kristan Higgins sent The Next Best Thing.

Carolyn and I were amazed at the outpouring of support. Carolyn kept sending goody boxes and copies of her mysteries. Meanwhile,  I kept making Kahlua brownies (five batches at a time!)  and shipping them. Since the 389^th is a “sustainment division,” offering food, coffee, drinks and snacks, to convoys passing through, all the goodies were gobbled up and the books were cherished.

The 389^th is coming home soon and all of us have fond memories of our friendships with the brave men and women serving in Iraq. And oh yes, we sent more than 200 pounds of home-made goodies and books. 200 pounds! Carolyn Hart’s “celebration” blossomed in a way that none of us could have expected.

The generosity of my fellow writers is truly an inspiration to me. When writers pull together, nothing can stop us.

Very inspirational, Mary. Thanks so much for sharing that with us. Remember, if you’d like to be eligible for the drawing to win copies of Mary’s two books, just post a comment. The winner will be announced tomorrow.-- AP

                 

"MONSTER IN MINATURE" BOOK WINNERS

Thanks to all of you who stopped by for our first week at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. The rest of the editors and I are thrilled by the response we’ve had so far and hope you’ll all come back often and also tell your friends about us. We have lots of exciting posts and guests planned for the months ahead.

I’d also like to thank Camille Minichino, our first Book Club Friday guest author, for offering 6 copies of MONSTER IN MINIATURE as giveaways for our inaugural week.

The winners of those copies are:

Kathy

Donnell

Jeanne S.

Candy Erb

Kathye Quick

Babs

If I’ve listed your name, please email your mailing address to me at anastasiapollack@gmail.com. I’ll forward your address to Camille, and she’ll mail your book to you. Happy reading! -- Anastasia