#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--AUTHOR KAIT CARSON ON HOW WRITING IS LIKE POTTERY

Kait Carson writes two series set in the steamy tropical heat of Florida and is crafting a new series set deep in the Maine woods. Like her protagonists, Kait is an accomplished SCUBA diver, hiker, and critter lover. She lives with her husband, four rescue cats and a flock of conures in the Crown of Maine. Learn more about Kait at her website.  

How Writing is Like Pottery

When Lois asked me to appear on her blog, I jumped at the chance. Lois won’t remember, but way back in the dark days of 2010 I attended her online Submission Process class. I’ve been a fan ever since, and it was with her help that I landed my first publishing contract. So, allow me to offer you a very public thank you!

 

Crafting is a big part of my life. In high school and college, I seldom went anywhere without a sketchbook. On the first of every month, I filled a length of butcher paper with a collage that I hung in my dorm room. I moved from there to photography, sculpting, pottery, scrapbooking, and writing. What! Writing? Yes. Writing is a craft. In fact, it’s very similar to pottery, or crochet. 

 

Okay, Kait. You’re getting a bit fanciful here. Pottery and crochet are not even distantly related. In fact, clay and yarn do not mix, then when you add in paper – what are you making? A sticky fiber decoupage? Hey, that’s not a bad idea. I may have to try that. Maybe later. For right now, stick with me.

 

When I sit down to throw a pot, I start with a lump of clay on my wheel. It’s nothing special, just a grey blob. But then I flip the switch, press on the foot peddle, and that clay is whirling between my hands. It’s still a lump at this point, but magic is happening. When the clay centers you feel it. From the center, you build your form. As you shape and pull, that lump of clay becomes a vase, a cup, a bowl. Something wonderful grows and takes shape between your hands. All that remains is the finishing. Cut in your designs, glaze, and fire the piece, and there you have it. A perfect bowl.

 

Writing is similar. I begin with a blank page and an idea – not as slimy as wet clay, but it’s worse in some ways. Gradually the page with words spins from my fingers to the keyboard where I shape and pull them into a form. Floppy verbs are strengthened, adverbs are discarded, concepts tightened, action increased. Like pottery, you know when it’s done. The story has a “feel.” Then it’s time to glaze and fire the tale. For me that comes with the voice of Word. Sounds…mystical. In truth, I let my computer read the story to me and edit until I not only like how it sounds, but want more of the story.

 

All well and good, but how does crochet figure into this? Writing fully occupies the mind, and there are times when the story simply stalls. Crochet is physical and repetitive. The repetition frees the mind to untangle the knot of the plot. Somewhere between single crochet and cluster stitch, the story becomes clear and the block dissolved. 

 

2023 has been an uber productive year. Death by Blue Water re-released on January 24^th. The book blurb follows. Hook Line and Sinker, the seventh Guppy anthology, released on January 27^th and contains my story “Gutted, Filleted, and Fried.” My Writers Who Kill blog mates and I have a February gift for our readers in the form of Broken Hearted Killers. It’s a series novella that runs from February 1^st through the 18^th. My chapter is up on February 10^th. Finally, my story, “Blood is Thicker than Water,” debuts in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Lessons I Learned from my Cat on February 14^th. Whew – that’s a full two months and a lot of wet clay.

 

Death by Blue Water

A Hayden Kent Mystery

Warm tropical waters. A deep dive, a body. 

 

Hayden Kent takes to the world beneath the sea to come to terms with her broken heart. Instead of peace, she discovers the body of her ex’s brother clad in a swimsuit and anchor chain. How did Richard end up in the wheelhouse of the Humboldt, and why do the cops claim she was the last person to see him alive? He never showed at Faulkner Marina, or did he? A vicious migraine robbed Hayden of her memory of that night. The clues she follows to save herself uncover criminal activity at the highest level. Can she find the killer before he drowns out her life?

 

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CHARACTER INTERVIEW--AUTHOR PATY JAGER'S AMATEUR SLEUTH SHANDRA HIGHTOWER

Today we sit down for a chat with Shandra Higheagle from author Paty Jager’s Shandra Higheagle Mysteries.

What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings?

I had pulled myself out of a bad relationship, purchased a ranch on Huckleberry Mountain in Idaho, and was successfully making a living throwing vases from the clay I found on my mountain. While living estranged from my mother and stepfather, I was content with only myself, my dog Sheba, my horses, and my new employee, Crazy Lil. 

What’s the one trait you like most about yourself?

I’m loyal to my friends. I grew up in a world that was short of loyalty. I believe it is something that should be given to those you call a friend and family that returns the loyalty. 

What do you like least about yourself?

That I allowed my mother’s slanted vision of my Nez Perce family to keep me away from them far too long. That I missed getting to know my paternal grandmother before she died. 

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?

Soon after attending my Nez Perce grandmother’s funeral, my grandmother started coming to me in dreams. Giving me clues that I didn’t understand and wasn’t sure I wanted to know. 

Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?

I wanted to take my relationship with Ryan slow and she wanted to push things because readers wanted more. Now I’m fighting her on having children. They would get in the way of my sleuthing and helping Ryan catch murderers. But at the same time, Ryan comes from a large family, and even though he says he’s fine with just the two of us, I wonder if he really would like to start a family. My upbringing with a stepfather who despised me has me thinking children aren’t a good thing. The chance Ryan could die like my father did leaving behind small children makes me hesitant.

What is your greatest fear?

That I might do something that would anger or upset my paternal family. I am trying to learn more about my Nez Perce roots, but I fear that one day I will do or say something that will make my family pull back. 

What makes you happy?

Riding my horse on the mountain with Sheba running ahead and Ryan riding beside me. 

If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?

It would be my father dying when I was four. My mother taking me away from my father’s family. The one summer I spent with my Nez Perce grandmother I discovered more about myself than any other time until her death and my getting reacquainted with my family. 

Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?

It would have to be Sidney Doring, the owner of the Huckleberry Ski Lodge. He believes he is God’s gift to women and treats everyone like they are his own personal attendants.  He and I have never been on good terms and even more so since Ryan and I became a couple. 

Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?

Honestly? No one. I love who I am, what I do, and how my dreams enable me to help Ryan put killers in jail. My life couldn’t get any better. 

Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?

Paty is a rural girl who loves riding horses, hiking, and even helping her husband harvest hay. She has always been fascinated with story and has loved mysteries ever since she read Nancy Drew books. You can learn more about her at her website and her blog.

What's next for you?

Paty took a 40^th anniversary trip to Hawaii with her hubby and while she was there, she discovered a plausible reason for me to visit and is working on an unusual murder for me to solve when Ryan and I attend an art show on Kauai. 

Toxic Trigger-point

A Shandra Higheagle Mystery

Adultery… Jealousy… Murder

Shandra Higheagle Greer is minding her own business when she walks into a room for a massage and it is already occupied—by a dead body. 

Always the champion for someone she knows, when her favorite masseuse looks like the murderer, Shandra listens to her gut and dreams choreographed by her deceased grandmother.

Detective Ryan Greer can’t believe his wife has walked into another homicide. He’s learned no matter how he tries to keep her out of the investigation he can’t. But this time the consequences could be deadly for Shandra—she heard the murder happen. 

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#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--GUEST AUTHOR GILIAN BAKER

Gilian Baker is a former English professor who has gone on to forge a life outside of academia by adding blogger, ghostwriter and cozy mystery author to her C.V. Gilian lives in Flagstaff, Arizona with her family and their three pampered felines. In her next life, she fervently hopes to come back as a cat, though she understands that would be going down the karmic ladder. Learn more about Gilian and her books at her website.

I Prefer Murder in a Pottery Studio, Not a Quilting Circle

Are you wondering why I didn’t set my second Jade Blackwell cozy mystery in a quilting circle instead of a dusty ole’ pottery studio? The simple answer is that I used to be a potter, but I’ve never added a single stitch to a quilt. The longer explanation is that there are lots of gruesome ways to kill off characters in a pottery studio, and since I’ve spent a great deal of time in them, I should know.

Pottery requires some wicked-looking tools, including the one used to kill off “innocent” members of the little village of Aspen Falls, Wyoming. Or, perhaps you’d rather drown a character in glaze, which is typically stored in industrial sized trashcans. Otherwise, if you have a bit more time or want to ensure the disposal of the body and trace evidence, you could conk your victim over the head and incinerate him or her in the huge electric kiln found in pottery studios.

I actually came up with the idea for the murders in my new book, A Time to Kiln, many years ago, when I was a pottery student—long before I knew I’d be writing cozy mysteries one day. And while I’m not going to spoil it for you by telling you exactly what happens, I will say it’s very plausible and not nearly as messy as some ways you could commit murder.

So, where does the “kiln” in A Time to Kiln fit in? That’s just what my protagonist, Jade Blackwell can’t figure out. And before you ask, a body can be incinerated in an electric kiln—it’s been done! One of my favorite parts of being a cozy mystery author is getting the chance to research wacky stuff like that.

·               How hot does an electric kiln get?

·               How long does it take to reach a kiln’s highest temperature?

·               At what temperature does a human body burn (or rather, melt)?

·               Can forensics get DNA from ash?

·               How long does it take a body to burn at 2550 degrees?

·               Would any larger bones be left after the kiln cooled?

·               If so, would forensic tests be able to find DNA after the bones had been in that high heat?

Now, I may be biased, but I think there are simply more grotesque ways to get rid of an enemy (fictitious, of course) in a pottery studio than in a quilting circle.

Though I don’t quilt, and don’t plan to start, I do knit. So who knows? Maybe at some point I’ll have Jade join a Witch n’ Stitch club where ghastly murders occur. But I can’t promise anything. Until then, you’ll just have to make do with death in a pottery studio.

A Time to Kiln: A Jade Blackwell Cozy Mystery (Book 2)

Disenchanted with life after solving her first real case, Jade Blackwell, successful blogger and amateur sleuth, throws herself into a new hobby…until murder rears its ugly head.

But when Jade attempts to ferret out the killer of local pottery teacher, Paula Hexby, she comes up short and suspicion begins to descend on her daughter’s former boyfriend. Evidence and bodies are stacking up, as Jade finds herself caught between an untrustworthy client and her beloved community.

Now at a personal and professional crossroads, Jade must once again jump into the breech, along with partner Gabrielle Langdon, to uncover the truth behind this string of horrific murders. Is she really cut out for this life of sleuthing and danger? Has Jade been defending the real murderer all along? Or is there something much more sinister afoot?

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THE FAVORITES, FAILURES & FRUSTRATIONS OF #POTTERY WITH GUEST AUTHOR GILIAN BAKER

Gilian Baker is a former writing and literature professor who finally threw in the towel and decided to just show ‘em how it’s done. She has gone on to forge a life outside of academia by adding blogger and ghostwriter to her CV. She currently uses her geeky superpowers only for good to entertain cozy mystery readers the world over. See what she’s up to on her website. 

“Sometimes I think throwing pottery is just as frustrating as running an online business,” admits my protagonist, Jade Blackwell. And she’s not wrong. She and I are both online entrepreneurs, so we know firsthand of the frustrations of which we speak. Though I haven’t thrown pottery for many years, it was once my creative passion. And, since there are so many ways for it to all go wrong, it makes perfect fodder for Favorites, Failures and Frustrations.

I loved playing in the mud as a kid. I loved getting my hands dirty while growing organic vegetable as an adult. So why not, I thought, try a pottery class? It started out as just a weekly class, but soon grew into an obsession. For the next seven years, I spent every free moment in a dusty pottery studio and loved it. I still use many of the items I created back then, as do the friends and family with whom I shared them. Even though I’m now too busy writing cozy mysteries to throw pots, I still enjoy the ones I literally created with my bare hands years ago.

That was the “favorites” part. Now, on to the failures. There were many. I would study pictures in pottery magazines thinking, “Heck, I can make that.” This was around the time I learned that nothing ever turns out like the picture. The times when a friend or family member requested a certain item made was when I experienced the biggest failures. I’d want it to be so perfect. The harder I tried, the worse it got. I better understand that concept now—the more “work” you make of something, the harder it’s going to be. When I let myself enjoy the simple pleasure of creating, I ended up with something lovely. When I didn’t, well, I didn’t. During my time as a potter, I learned the best way to do anything was to let go of how the final product turned out and just enjoy the process.

Frustrations can easily overshadow the pleasure found in the pottery studio. One reason for this is the many steps required to finish a single piece.

The clay must be thrown, dried, trimmed, glazed and fired, and at any point in the process, it can be wrecked. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? But oh, when you create something beautiful, you forget all about the frustrations and can’t wait to do it all over again. Throwing pottery is a great metaphor for life. If you are as malleable as the clay, you can learn patience and mindfulness. If you don’t…you probably won’t stick with it for long.

Though I started this post with a quote from Jade Blackwell, it’s from the second book in the series, scheduled to be released in May. So technically, Jade isn’t a potter yet, but it fit so perfectly with the topic, I decided to use it anyway.  In the first book, Blogging is Murder, Jade doesn’t have time for anything other than blogging and investigating the murder her friend is suspected of. But during that first case, she remembers there’s more to life than work and is determined to have more fun. In Book Two, she takes up pottery…until another crime needs to be solved.

Blogging is Murder

A Jade Blackwell Mystery

Though she was certainly born with all the traits of a world-class private detective, blogger Jade Blackwell believed she would do nothing more than solve the murders in her latest favorite cozy mystery book.

Set in mountainous southeastern Wyoming, Jade Blackwell lives in a log home in the quaint village of Aspen Falls with her husband Christian and daughter Penelope (Ellie). She left her life as a tenured college English professor at the University of Wyoming four years ago, sick of the bureaucracy, mounds of essays to grade and apathetic students. She turns to blogging and ghostwriting as her new career.

Jade’s promising career as a blogger halts abruptly when she learns of a hacker who is controlling her friend and fellow blogger Liz Collin’s business remotely. When the hacker is found dead in her home, Liz is thrown in jail.

Determined to help her friend regain her life and livelihood, Jade teams up with Liz’s reluctant lawyer, Gabriel Langdon, to get Liz off the hook and out of jail. What she learns will break the case wide open, while unraveling her faith in humanity and the safety she feels living in the Rocky Mountain hamlet she calls home.

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#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--#POTTERY AND A SLEUTHING POTTER WITH GUEST AUTHOR PATY JAGER

photo by Oriel

Award-winning author Paty Jager and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. On her road to publication she wrote freelance articles for two local newspapers and enjoyed her job with the County Extension service as a 4-H Program Assistant. Raising hay and cattle, riding horses, and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. Learn more about Paty and her books at her website and blog. 

Playing in the Mud

When I came up with the idea to have my amateur sleuth be a potter, I wanted to make her unique. She is not only half Nez Perce Indian, she gathers the clay for her art pieces from the earth. I didn’t know about such a thing until my brother told me about Olaf- a potter in the county where I grew up. He makes all his wares out of clay he finds in the mountains surrounding the Valley.

I visited Olaf and learned the process of gathering and purifying the clay naturally.

To find clay you have to be observant. It can be near lakes, ponds, or the seashore. If the topsoil has been removed due to construction, you could find a pocket underneath. When you head out to find the clay, take a bucket, shovel, trowel, and pocketknife with you. 

Clay can be either wet, looking like mud, or dry, looking like rocks.  

If you pick up a dry clump, scrape it with a knife. If fine particles crumble off, it could be clay. Add water to a small pile of the dust. If it dissolves, you have found clay.

If you’re digging in a wet area, keep digging until you get beneath the layers of leaves, sand, stones, and humus. Clay has fine particles. When you find the clay, take a small amount in your hand and work it into a ball with your fingers. Work the ball into a coil, wrap it around your finger. If it is smooth and elastic and stays together, you’ve discovered a patch of clay.

When you harvest the clay be sure not to add any debris, including dirt.

If the clay is workable you may use it as is. But most clay needs to be put through a clarifying process.

Process to clean clay:

1) Dry the clay. If wet clay, spread it out on boards to dry. If dry, skip to Step 2.

2) Use a hammer to break up dried clay into pea-sized pieces.

3) Pour as much water in a bucket as the amount of clay. Then sprinkle the clay over the water.

4) Stir, adding more water to make a liquid mass.

5) Let sit a few hours or weeks.

6) Stir well and sieve through a sieve or window screen, adding enough water to keep the mixture moving through. Leave the mixture alone to allow it to settle in the bucket.

7) Once the water and clay have separated pour off extra water. Repeat Step 6 until the mixture is mud-like.

8) Spread on a board to stiffen.

9) Wedge the clay: this is when the mixture is stiff enough to roll, fold, and knead. Do this on plaster, wood, or canvas.

Your clay is now ready to use or store for another day. To store, wrap tightly in several layers of plastic and place in a tightly sealed bag.

That is the process my character Shandra Higheagle uses to prepare clay from her mountain property to use in her art.

Double Duplicity, A Shandra Higheagle Mystery

On the eve of the biggest art event at Huckleberry Mountain Resort, potter Shandra Higheagle finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. She’s ruled out as a suspect, but now it’s up to her to prove the friend she witnessed fleeing the scene was just as innocent. With help from her recently deceased Nez Perce grandmother, Shandra becomes more confused than ever but just as determined to discover the truth.

Detective Ryan Greer prides himself on solving crimes and refuses to ignore a single clue, including Shandra Higheagle’s visions. While Shandra is hesitant to trust her dreams, Ryan believes in them and believes in her.

Can the pair uncover enough clues for Ryan to make an arrest before one of them becomes the next victim?

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