MY AUTHOR BLEW IT AT KILLER NASHVILLE

It's a Major Award!

No, I’m not talking about that infamous, cringe-worthy leg lamp from A Christmas Story. 

 

Three weeks ago, author Lois Winston, she who writes about me, attended the Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference where A Crafty Collage of Crime, the twelfth book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series, was a finalist in the Comedy category of the Silver Falchion Awards. Much to Lois’s surprise and my own, she won!

 

Lois never expected to win. The woman has never even won more than $7 on a lottery ticket! So although she’s racked up quite a few nominations over the years, she fully expected to come up short once again.

 

Have you ever watched an awards show and fantasized about winning an Oscar, Emmy, or Tony? As you sit in front of the TV, listening to all those acceptance speeches, haven’t you thought about who you’d thank for your success? Being a theater geek, my author only watches the Tonys, but she records the show so she can fast-forward through all the winners thanking everyone from their toddler dance class instructors to the guy who monitors the stage door. You’d think she would have prepared an acceptance speech on the slim chance she might win, but she didn’t.

 

Cut to Lois being asked to say a few words. Did she have the presence of mind to utter a sentence or two about this winning book where she sent me to Tennessee wine country, only to have me stumble across more dead bodies? She did not. In front of a captive audience of about 400 mystery lovers IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE, she gave what one of her friends later proclaimed was the shortest acceptance speech in the history of awards. And didn't even mention anything about me or the book!

KILLER NASHVILLE EXCITEMENT AND A SALE!

As much as I hate all the murder and mayhem my author Lois Winston throws me way, I have to admit that sometimes…just sometimes, there are moments when I don’t mind being the center of attention. Now is one of those times. 

A Crafty Collage of Crime, the twelfth book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series, is a finalist for a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award for Best Comedy as well as a finalist in the Readers’ Choice Award. Winners will be announced on August 24^th at the Killer Nashville conference.

 

Lois will be attending the conference and will be on participating on six panels. 

 

In addition to the conference, there’s a bookstore that’s open to the public August 23^rd-25^th. Book signings are held throughout Friday and Saturday until roughly 5:30pm and on Sunday until 2pm. If you’re in the greater Nashville area, stop by The Embassy Suites, 820 Crescent Centre Drive, Franklin, TN. Lois would love to meet you. (Tell her I sent you!)

Lois is also running an End of Summer sale. From now through September 9^th, Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, Books 9-10, the 2-ebook bundle featuring A Sew Deadly Cruise and Stitch, Bake, Die!, the ninth and tenth books in the series all about me, is on sale for only .99 cents. Talk about a bargain! Each ebook normally sells for $5.99. Both books were previous Killer Nashville Silver Falchion finalists. Stitch, Bake, Die! was also #1 on iTunes Top 100 Paid Books Chart.

 

A Sew Deadly Cruise

Life is looking up for magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack. Newly engaged, she and photojournalist fiancé Zack Barnes are on a winter cruise with her family, compliments of a Christmas gift from her half-brother-in-law. Son Alex’s girlfriend and her father have also joined them. Shortly after boarding the ship, Anastasia is approached by a man with an unusual interest in her engagement ring. When she tells Zack of her encounter, he suggests the man might be a jewel thief scouting for his next mark. But before Anastasia can point the man out to Zack, the would-be thief approaches him, revealing his true motivation. Long-buried secrets now threaten the well-being of everyone Anastasia holds dear. And that’s before the first dead body turns up.

​

Craft projects included.

 

Stitch, Bake, Die!

With massive debt, a communist mother-in-law, a Shakespeare-quoting parrot, and a photojournalist boyfriend who may or may not be a spy, crafts editor Anastasia Pollack already juggles too much in her life. So she’s not thrilled when her magazine volunteers her to present workshops and judge a needlework contest at the inaugural conference of the New Jersey chapter of the Stitch and Bake Society, a national organization of retired professional women. At least her best friend and cooking editor Cloris McWerther has also been roped into similar duties for the culinary side of the 3-day event taking place on the grounds of the exclusive Beckwith Chateau Country Club.

 

The sweet little old ladies Anastasia is expecting to meet are definitely old, and some of them are little, but all are anything but sweet. She’s stepped into a vipers’ den that starts with bribery and ends with murder. When an ice storm forces Anastasia and Cloris to spend the night at the Chateau, Anastasia discovers evidence of insurance scams, medical fraud, an opioid ring, long-buried family secrets, and a bevy of suspects.

 

Can she piece together the various clues before she becomes the killer’s next target?

 

Craft projects included.

 

Buy Links

Kindle

Nook

Kobo

Apple Books

MY AUTHOR CAVORTS WITH HER PEEPS AT KILLER NASHVILLE

Authors Alana White, Lois Winston, Gay Yellen, and CB Wilson
at the Killer Nashville Book Signing

My author Lois Winston recently spent a few days talking about her favorite topics, murder and me. I'll let her explain.

 

It takes a lot to drag me out of my writer's cave. Like many writers, I'm an introvert. I'm much more comfortable spending my days conversing with the voices in my head, AKA the imaginary characters who populate my books. When I do exit the cave, I feel most comfortable among my peeps--other authors whose brains work the same way mine does and don't think it's odd that I spend my days dreaming up ways to kill people and figuring out how my sleuth will solve the crime. I recently had the good fortune to spend a few days doing just that at the Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference. 

Authors Debra H. Goldstein, Maggie Toussaint
and Lois Winston at the Multi-Author Cross Promotion Panel 

I was on three panels: Writing Cozy Mysteries, where I was also the moderator; Writing Humor; and The Power of Multi-Author Cross Promotion, with Debra H. Goldstein and Maggie Toussaint, two of my fellow Booklover’s Bench blog mates. In addition, I’d agreed to take part in an Ask-the-Author speed dating session. Twenty attendees had the opportunity to spend five minutes with each of ten authors to ask us anything they wanted to know about writing, publishing, and marketing.  I also wound up filling in at the last minute on a panel about Using Emotion to Appeal to Your Readers. In addition, there were multiple book signings throughout the conference where I had the chance to chat with lovers of amateur sleuth mysteries.

And now I'm once again back in my writer's cave where I'm plotting Anastasia's next adventure.

Are you an introvert or an extravert? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free download of Scrapbook of Murder, the sixth book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries.

KILLER NASHVILLE FOR READERS AND WRITERS

If you’re in or around Middle Tennessee next Thursday through Sunday and love mystery, suspense, and thrillers, you’re not going to want to miss Killer Nashville at the Embassy Suites South Nashville in Franklin, TN, minutes from downtown Nashville. This annual writing conference for both published and unpublished writers offers several events that are free and open to the general public, including book signings by dozens of authors.  

Lois Winston, she who writes about me, will be one of those participating authors. As I mentioned in Monday’s post, Lois is up for two awards for Stitch, Bake, Die!, the tenth Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, one for a Silver Falchion for Best Cozy Mystery and also the Readers’ Choice Award. (Have you voted yet? Click here to do so.

Lois will be on two panels, “Description: Too Much or Not Enough” on Friday at 1:50pm and “Destination Murder: Incorporating Setting” on Saturday at 9:00am. She’ll be signing books at various times on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Click here for a complete list of authors and times. She’ll also be one of the authors helping unpublished writers polish their pitches at Ready. Set. Pitch at 5:00pm on Thursday.

 

If you’re an aspiring author, there’s still time to register to attend, either the full conference or individual days. If you’re an avid reader and fan of mysteries, thrillers, and suspense, stop by to meet Lois and other others at the book signings. They’d love to see you.

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?

 

Buy Links

Paperback (available 9/6/22)

Kindle

Kobo

Apple Books

Nook