If you’ve ever read any of the Anastasia Pollack
Crafting Mysteries, you know that I love my mother—when I’m not on the verge of
killing her. Or killing author Lois Winston for instilling my mother with some
very annoying traits. Mama can be extremely manipulative, but she’s got a heart
of 24-karat gold when it comes to her grandsons and me, and that tends to
negate much of her annoying side—sometimes.
Today we’d like to introduce you to another
strong-willed but well-meaning mother, Maria Ruth “Mimi” Spinelli Harmony from Four
Uncles and a Wedding. Mimi and husband Howard are the parents of Polly
Faith Harmony, who claims her parents were stoned when they named her. They
insist their daughter’s name couldn’t be more appropriate. Keep reading to find
out why.
What was your life like
before your author started pulling your strings?
Actually, I do believe Lois is firmly entrenched in
my camp. She’s helping me find a husband for my daughter, and you know what
they say, two heads are better than one—especially when it comes to my stubborn
offspring.
What’s the
one trait you like most about yourself?
I’m a go-getter. I set goals, work toward them, and
don’t give up until I’ve achieved that goal. Nothing and no one gets in my way.
What do you
like least about yourself?
Nothing, really. If there’s something I don’t like
about myself, I work to change it. I’m a very positive person.
What is the
strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?
She created a rather
unique family for me that gives new meaning to the word unorthodox. Howard and I met in Haight-Ashbury in the late sixties
during a tune-in-turn-on-drop-out weekend escapade. We’re both the products of
nonconformist parents. On my side, my parents came from the Lower East Side,
only my mother was a Russian Jew and my father an Italian Catholic. You can
imagine the Romeo-Juliet scenario their romance caused back in the late
nineteen-forties.
On Howard’s side, his mother was a Boston blueblood who traced her
Episcopalian heritage back to the Founding Fathers. So did his father, but he
was a Unitarian—in other words, a heretic as far as his mother’s family was
concerned.
Both sets of parents are long gone. Howard and I were only children,
much to the relief of our grandparents, or so we were told. Our uncles are the
only remaining family—Uncle Aaron Goldfarb, the rabbi; Uncle Francis Xavier
Spinelli, the Catholic priest; Uncle Calvin Trusdale, the Episcopalian priest;
and Uncle Ralph Waldo Emerson Harmony, the gay Unitarian minister.
This very unorthodox lineage explains the name we chose for our daughter:
Polly Faith Harmony. And no, contrary to what Polly will tell you, we were not
stoned when we named her. It was a very deliberate decision to honor all parts
of her heritage.
Do you
argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?
I argue with my daughter far more than I argue with
Lois. Lois and I are on the same wavelength most of the time.
What is
your greatest fear?
That by the time my daughter makes me a grandmother,
I’ll be too old to enjoy my grandchildren.
What makes
you happy?
My life and my family make me happy. About the only
thing I’m not happy about is my daughter’s refusal to find herself a husband
and start making those grandchildren for me, but I’m working on it. As I said
earlier, I don’t give up.
If you
could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?
I wish Lois had given Polly some brothers and
sisters. That would have increased my odds of becoming a grandmother before I
wind up with one foot in the grave.
Of the other characters in
your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?
Obviously, that’s my stubborn daughter. She turns
her nose up at every eligible guy I introduce her to. She even created a list
of The Top Ten Reasons to Call it Quits After the First Date. She never gives
these men a chance.
Of the other characters in
your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?
Any of my friends who have grandchildren.
Tell us a little something
about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?
Lois can be found at her website and lurking behind
the scenes at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog.
What's next for you?
I certainly hope it’s grandmotherhood!
Four Uncles and a Wedding
Polly Faith Harmony is the ultimate ecumenical love
child. Born to former hippies turned millionaire entrepreneurs, she’s one part
Jewish, one part Catholic, one part Episcopalian, and one part Unitarian–hence
her name. Could have been worse. Her flower power parents might have named her
Polly Esther.
Aside from her joke of a name, her great-uncles, one
from each side of the family, are all members of the clergy, not to mention
golfing buddies and best friends. To keep harmony in the Harmony household,
Polly has grown up alternately attending all four houses of worship.
When Polly’s feminist mother decides it’s about time
Polly settles down and start providing her with grandchildren before her
biological clock runs out, she enlists the uncles’ help. Polly and her friend
Joni have penned the Top 10 Reasons to
Call it Quits After the First Date, but Polly soon finds that thanks to her
interfering relatives, the list is growing at an alarming rate. Worse yet, she
learns that loving relatives on a mission rarely play fair.
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