THIS WEEK'S BOOK GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Thanks to everyone who visited Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers this week. We hope you'll stop back often and please tell your friends about us. We have lots of great posts and guests planned for the future. 


This week we had visits from two authors who offered copies of their books as giveaways. On Thursday Deborah Sharp paid us a visit and offered a copy of MAMA SEES STARS, the latest book in her Mace Bauer Mysteries series. The winner of that book is Nancy. 


On Friday, author Clea Lane paid us a visit and offered a copy of GREY ZONE, the newest Dulcie Schwartz mystery, to one of our readers. The winner of that book is Anne.


Ladies, please send your mailing addresses to anastasiapollack@gmail.com. I'll forward them on to Deborah and Clea so they can send your books to you.

BEAUTY WITH NICOLE-- GUEST BEAUTY BLOGGER AUTHOR DEBORAH SHARP

Today is International Literary Day. In celebration, beauty editor Nicole Emmerling has invited a special guest blogger. Former reporter Deborah Sharp left the sad stories of the news biz behind to write the funny Mace Bauer Mysteries. She demonstrates unusual dedication to verisimilitude. She trekked 120 miles on horseback across Florida to “feel’’ the trail-ride setting for her second book. Far too many times, she donned hideously tacky bridal garb to promote her last book, set at a wedding (Mama’s fifth). Viewers of NBC’s Today got a glimpse last year of Deborah sporting her … uh, Mama’s … veil when she appeared on the program. She has no idea how she’ll top that stunt for the release this month of MAMA SEES STARS. You can read an excerpt from the first chapter of MAMA SEES STARS right here.  Or, you can check out Deborah’s website here.

In honor of International Literary Day, Deborah is giving away a copy of MAMA SEES STARS to one of our readers. All you have to do to enter is post a comment to the blog. In addition, for those of you with Kindles or Nooks, MAMA DOES TIME, the first book in the Mace Bauer Mysteries, is now available for a limited time as a FREE DOWNLOAD. Click here for the free Kindle download, and click here for the free Nook download. -- AP

Thanks to Anastasia and the gang at American Woman for inviting me here today. I’m going to turn things over to “Mama,’’ from my fictional town of Himmarshee, Fla. Mama loves nothing more than talking about beauty, preferably her own.

Hey, there! Mama here. I wish y’all could see Ms. Author – not a dab of makeup, not even lipstick, dragging her butt around the house in her sweatpants. You’d understand why it makes sense to have me guest star today to talk about the beauty benefits of aromatherapy.

I know from personal experience how scents and essential oils from flowers and herbs can help a person through tough times. When I was married to Husband No. 2, I’d have been nuttier than a squirrel at a peanut festival without my potions. If breathing scented steam under a tented towel keeps you from sticking your head in the gas oven, well that’s a good thing, isn’t it?  You can’t be beautiful if you’re dead.

My middle daughter Mace refuses to take my advice about aromatherapy, along with just about anything else: Hair. Clothes. Matters of the heart. I just know she acts obstinate to make me crazy.

Now, she’s somehow managed to land this handsome detective, Carlos Martinez. That’s despite the fact she makes no effort whatsoever to take advantage of her God-given looks. The two of them even got over that little misunderstanding about him trying to send me to prison for murder. To me, that says they’re meant to be together.

I just hope Mace doesn’t screw it up.

I have half a mind to hide an aromatherapy lamp in her house, fill the basin with distilled water and a few drops of the essential oils of flowers and plants known to be, well . . . stimulating, if you get my drift. Okay, they’re aphrodisiacs. We’re all adults here.

Well, I’m getting the signal from Mace to stop discussing her private life and get to my task.

I’ll tell you one important thing, just like I tell the folks at Hair Today, Dyed Tomorrow beauty parlor. Pregnant women, people getting medical treatment, and those with sensitive skin should be cautious with aromatherapy. In fact, it’s probably a good idea for anybody to check with their doctor first, just to be sure. Essential oils can be strong. Don’t take them internally. Don’t apply directly to skin. Always mix in just a few drops with a “carrier’’ oil like almond, apricot kernel, or even a light olive oil, to rub on your skin.

Here are a few things you might like to try:

* Oil of lemon helps you think clearly. Dilute two drops in a tablespoon of almond or some other oil, then massage a bit onto your temples. This potion can also calm emotional outbursts and improve communication. I’m going to slip a little bottle in Mace’s purse since she always manages to say the wrong thing around Carlos.

* Are you plagued by body odor? Nothing pretty about that! Don’t worry, sage can help. Rub some of the dry, powdered herb under your arms. Or, use one teaspoon per cup for tea.

* Neroli oil, made from orange blossoms, is linked to blushing brides and wedding nights. Maybe that’s why it makes a good massage oil to enhance matters in the bedroom. A sniff before public speaking also calms stage fright. I’ve never used neroli in the latter way. About the former, I’d rather not say.

If you find yourself near Himmarshee—the Gateway to Palatka – stop by Hair Today. I’m the salon’s aromatherapy expert. I’ll give you a free 10-minute consult if you mention my latest adventure, MAMA SEES STARS. Did you hear I got a part in the movie those Hollywood folks came to shoot down here? Of course, there was that little matter of a murder. Still, everyone said I killed when they filmed my scene … well, I don’t mean killed literally. That’s just the way we movie people talk.

Mama, it’s always a pleasure having you stop by! (You, too, Deborah!) Readers, remember, if you’d like to enter the drawing to win a copy of MAMA SEES STARS, post a comment. Since it's International Literary Day, tell us what you're reading. Or tell us your beauty secret. Or just stop by to say hi. And don’t forget to either include your email address or check back on Sunday to see if you’ve won. We’ve had a lot of winners recently who haven’t done either, and we have no way of contacting you. -- AP

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- GUEST AUTHOR DEBORAH SHARP

Today’s guest author at Book Club Friday was supposed to be Deborah Sharp. Deborah, a Florida native and former USA Today reporter,  writes the funny, Southern-fried ''Mace Bauer Mystery'' series, featuring Mace's wacky mama. However, instead of Deborah showing up, Mama took over, as she so often does. If you’d like to learn more about Deborah, visit her at www.DeborahSharp.com. Hopefully, her mama hasn’t taken over her website. -- AP

 

Well, I guess the first order of business is for me to apologize to Anastasia and all the nice folks at American Woman magazine for all the nasty things I've said about New Jersey. That gal couldn't be nicer, and she's proved the untruth of every single thing I've learned from TV's Jersey Shore. Well, maybe not everything. Some of Anastasia's friends seem to glow with suspicious tans, and I did spot one of them sporting a hairdo like Snooki's. Believe me, where I work at Hair Today Dyed Tomorrow Beauty Parlor in Himmarshee, Fla., we'd know what to do with that awful pouf. We'd deflate it right quick, like sticking a pin in an ugly blister.

All right, back to my apology . . . you have to understand, those of us down here in the South can feel a little sensitive about Northerners. When you've had to listen for years and years to transplants moving down, then telling you how every single thing in the world is better Up North, well you're about ready to hog-tie and skin the next know-it-all Yankee who opens his or her big mouth. Even so, I have nothing against Northerners. I even married one: Sal Provenza, a proud son of the Bronx. That's in New York City, y'all. He's my fifth husband, but let's keep that between us, okay?

It wasn't so easy to be nice before the wedding, when I first met Sal's bulldozer of a cousin-in-law, C'ndee Ciancio. But being a well-bred Southern lady, I refrained from knocking her teeth down her throat, just to watch her spit 'em out single-file. Someone else wasn't as restrained, however. This gal ended up at my bridal shower, rolling around with C'ndee in spilled punch and smashed cake and ruining the hostess's lilac shag carpet  That was after C'ndee had hired the male stripper to come dance at my bachelorette party at the Speckled Perch restaurant. You should have heard the gasps from my Sunday School group. But, you know, that turned out all right after all. It's amazing how much sin you can overlook after a  case of sweet pink wine  and a few rounds of Boot Scootin' Boogie with a shirtless cowboy in leather chaps.

Now, I can't say the same for the wedding itself. Oh, sure, my daughters looked gorgeous in their Scarlett O'Hara gowns, even if my middle girl Mace never did stop complaining about having to wear a lacy hat, carry a parasol, and tote a cute drawstring purse, all in the same ruffled lime-sherbet shade as her dress. And my Pomeranian, Teensy, looked adorable as the ring bearer, in his little satin vest and doggy top hat. Still, it definitely put a crimp in the proceedings, finding the caterer dead in the VFW's kitchen even before the first pig-in-the-blanket was passed.

Anyhoo, you can read all about my wedding in MAMA GETS HITCHED . It's the third book that Fancy Pants author, Deborah Sharp, has written featuring my stories. She tries to take all the credit, but all she really does is write down my life. Where's the skill in that? If you happen to meet her, be sure to remind her whose name is in the title of Mama Does Time, Mama Rides Shotgun, and this latest one, Mama Gets Hitched.

And speaking of weddings, After all the mess was cleaned up, my oldest girl, Maddie, got some lovely pictures of My Special Day. Maybe Anastasia would want to run a spread in American Woman magazine? Everybody in Himmarshee is calling it the Wedding of the Century. Frankly, I think Mace was being a smart aleck when she named it that, but it did seem to catch on.

You'll let me know if it runs in the magazine, won't you Anastasia honey? I'll ask my cousin's boy, Bubba, to pick up some copies at one of those New York City newsstands. He's a dancer now, in those shows on Broadway street. He's asked everyone to quit calling him Bubba and call him Bertrand instead. Which is fine by me. That's who he is, after all.

Phone's ringing, so I better sign off. I bet it's my youngest, Marty. She's taking me to the Home on the Range Feed Store and Clothing Emporium, where they just got in that new sherbet-colored pantsuit I wanted.  Bye-bye, y'all. Oh, yeah ... and I'm sorry about New Jersey.

Love, Mama


Hmm...I'm thinking if we got Deborah's Mama and my Mama together, we'd have one very interesting get-together! Deborah is giving away a copy of MAMA GETS HITCHED to one lucky blog reader who has posted a comment this week. So if you haven't posted a comment so far this week, better do so now. The winner will be announced tomorrow. -- AP