HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

 

CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA-- LEGOs

As I’ve mentioned many times, there are all different types of crafters, and many crafts take little or no talent. Then there are the crafts that take a special kind of talent, but employs a skill that doesn’t involve a glue gun or an embroidery needle. Some crafters work with beads, some with clay, some with paint, and some with…LEGOs.

Bet you never thought of those little colored bricks as a craft, did you? But why not? Creating with LEGOs is still creating. Crafting is crafting, no matter what the medium.

Over Christmas Lois Winston (the author who writes those books about me,) visited family in Georgia. While reading the newspaper one morning, she learned about a Lego exhibit at a Honda dealer in Roswell, a town about an hour north of Atlanta. Being a fan of LEGOs, she had to check out the exhibit. So the entire family piled into the car and drove over to Honda Carland.

Once there, they found a 15 foot tall cityscape made from over half a million LEGOs with 1500 LEGO figures, including Santa Claus and characters from Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Harry Potter. The cityscape was created by Harry Nijenkamp and his son Austin, and they estimate it took over 500 hours to complete. Along with the skyscrapers and an amphitheater, there’s an oriental garden and a DragonCon parade that weaves through the city streets. 

Photos by James Barker

So the next time you’re thinking about crafts, don’t forget to think a bit outside the box. Anyone can craft. And with any medium.

Post a comment to enter the drawing for books plus a special gift from our Book Club Friday author this week. -- AP

TRAVEL WITH SERENA -- ST. LOUIS, MO

Author Lois Winston, who writes those books about yours truly (check out the sidebar to the right), is heading off to St. Louis to take part in the Bouchercon mystery convention where she’ll be talking all about ME! So travel editor Serena Brower thought today might be a good time to give you a bit of trivia about St. Louis. -- AP

Thanks, Anastasia! Of course, everyone knows St. Louis is in Missouri, which is known as the “Show Me State.” Ever wonder where that expression came from? It heralds back to 1899 when Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver said, “I’m from Missouri, and you’ve got to show me.” The saying stuck and became the state motto.

Here are some more facts and trivia specific to St. Louis:

For those of you looking for a vacation that doesn’t break the bank, St. Louis offers more free visitor attractions than any other U.S. city besides Washington, DC. These include the St. Louis Art Museum, the St. Louis zoo, the St. Louis Science Center, the Missouri History Museum, Anheuser-Busch Brewery, Grant’s Farm, Cahookia Mounds, and more.

St. Louis is known as both “The Gateway to the West” and “The Home of the Blues.”

The first successful parachute jump made from a moving plane happened in St. Louis in 1912.

Both ice tea and the ice cream cone were invented at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904.

St. Louis University is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River.

Thanks, Serena! I do hope that Lois doesn’t avail herself of all that free touristy stuff while she’s there, though. She’s supposed to be promoting me. ;-) Post a comment to enter the drawing for a free e-book from our Book Club Friday guest author. -- AP

MALICE DOMESTIC & FESTIVAL OF MYSTERY

Author Lois Winston, who writes about my life in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, recently attended the Malice Domestic mystery convention in Bethesda, MD and the Festival of Mystery in Oakmont, PA where she met many of my fans. (I suppose some of them are her fans, too.) So today Lois and I decided we’d muscle aside the usual Thursday line-up and present some of the photos Lois took at these events.

Author Lois Winston and Midnight Ink Acquisitions Editor Terri Bischoff

Not only did Lois meet many wonderful mystery fans during both events, she also got to meet our Midnight Ink editor, Terri Bischoff, and many of her fellow Midnight Ink (M’Inkers) authors.

Malice Panel Members: Cathy Pickens, Lois Winston, Judi McCoy, Jess Lourey and Donna Andrews

Lois took part in a panel, Funny Gals, Dark Books: An Intellectual Look at Humor in Mysteries. The panel was moderated by Cathy Pickens and besides Lois, included authors Judi McCoy, fellow M’Inker Jess Lourey, and Donna Andrews.

author Lois Winston answering host Cindy Silverblatt's questions at New Authors Breakfast

At Malice Domestic Lois also took part in a New (to Malice) Authors Breakfast where fans ate while the authors talked about their books. Of course, Lois told everyone about me.

author Lois Winston signing a book for fan Jaime at Malice Domestic

M'Inkers at Malice Banquet: Vicki Doudera, Lois Winston, Terri Bischoff, Deborah Sharp, Jessie Chandler, Kathleen Ernst, Alice Loweecey, Alan Orloff, Beth Groundwater and Jess Lourey

Saturday evening the M’Inkers took over two tables at the annual Agatha Awards Banquet where M’Inker Alan Orloff was up for an Agatha for Best First Novel. Sadly, Alan didn’t win, but as he said, it was an honor just to be nominated.

author Lois Winston at Festival of Mystery

Sunday morning many of us drove to Oakmont, PA where the Mystery Lovers Bookshop hosts their annual Festival of Mystery. The festival attracts over 350 readers and librarians each year, is co-sponsored by NPR affiliate WDUQ-FM, and benefits the Carnegie Library Bookmobile. Over 50 authors attended the event this year. Richard Goldman and Mary Alice Gorman, along with many volunteers, put on this fabulous event where people line up for hours ahead of time to be the first ones in the door. 

Festival of Mystery in Oakmont, PA

M'Inker suite-mates at Festival of Mystery: Vicki Doudera, Jess Lourey, Alice Loweecey, Lois Winston

Mystery Lovers Bookshop apres Festival of Mystery pizza party

After the festival, Richard and Mary Alice hosted a pizza party for all the authors back at the store. The Mystery Lovers Bookshop is just outside Pittsburgh. If you’re ever in the area, it’s a great place to visit, have a cup of coffee, and buy mysteries.

M'Inkers at Mystery Lovers Bookshop: Beth Groundwater, Jess Lourey, Alice Loweecey, Alan Orloff, Lois Winston and Vicki Doudera

 Lois arrived back home late yesterday and is already back working on chronicling the third book in the series all about me.
Anastasia Pollack

FROM HEROINES TO RELUCTANT SLEUTHS

Author Lois Winston, who tells my story in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, is the guest blogger at Fresh Fiction today. She talks about switching from writing romance to writing mysteries in an article called From Heroines To Reluctant Sleuths. Personally, I'm thrilled that her keyboard is firmly planted in the mystery world now, because I have many more adventures for her to share with you. And I'm also loving the spotlight. -- Anastasia

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 Marni Graff for being our Book Club Friday guest and offering a copy of THE BLUE VIRGIN to one of our readers who posted a comment this week. The winner this week is Nancy Q. Nancy Q, please email your mailing address to me at anastasiapollack@gmail.com. I’ll forward the information to Marni, and she’ll mail your book to you. 

And don't forget to check out Lois Winston's blog tour. Tomorrow is the last day of the month-long tour and your last chance to enter the drawing for one of five copies of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun. You can find the blog tour schedule right here on the sidebar and at Lois's website.

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 Bob Doerr for being our Book Club Friday guest and offering a copy of Cold Winter's Kill to one of our readers who posted a comment this week. The winner this week is traveler. traveler, please email your mailing address to me at anastasiapollack@gmail.com. I’ll forward the information to Bob, and he’ll mail your book to you. 


And don't forget to check out Lois Winston's blog tour throughout the month. Post a comment to any of the blogs on the tour, and you'll be entered in the drawing to win one of five copies of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the book about yours truly. In addition, Lois will be offering crafts books giveaways at select blogs. You can find the blog tour schedule right here on the sidebar and at Lois's website.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT CONCERNING ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN

Hi Everyone! Sorry to brake into Kelle's wonderful guest blog today, but I need your help. Thanks to a reader down in Virginia, author Lois Winston learned yesterday that a printing error occurred in some copies of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, the book about yours truly. The last 48 pages are missing! Unbelievable, right? 

At this point we have no way of knowing how many books are missing pages. The reader purchased her book at a Borders. The other copies at that store were also missing 48 pages. Lois has checked at her local Borders in New Jersey, and those books were also missing 48 pages. Her author copies, the books she's bought from Amazon, and the books at her local Barnes & Noble are all fine.

So I'm asking a huge favor.  If you happen to be in a bookstore, would you please check the store copies of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN? The correct version should have 302 pages with the last page being Lois's author bio. The books with missing pages end at page 254, mid-sentence. If you come across books with missing pages, please let the bookseller know. There is a procedure in place for booksellers to deal with printing errors.

Also, if it's not too much trouble, please shoot Lois a private email to let her know if you did find any defective books. 

Thanks so much!

Anastasia