CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--ROMANTIC MYSTERY AUTHOR BETHANY MAINES ON POPPIES AND ELEVATORS

Bethany Maines is the award-winning indie and traditionally published author of romantic action-adventure and fantasy novels that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind-end. She can usually be found chasing after her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel or screenplay. Learn more about Bethany and her books and find links to her on social media at her website.

Poppies Inspired by an Elevator Ride

This craft was used in Elevator Ride—Book 1 of the Valkyrie Brothers Trilogy—an action-packed, age-gap romance mystery. The heroine, Vivian Kaye, is the chair of the event committee for a Veteran centered non-profit.  When the non-profit throws a fundraising gala, they use oversized paper poppies as part of the décor. 

 

Of course, poppies are also used to denote Memorial Day—a tradition since World War I, inspired by a poem written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. So there was a nice nod to veteran tradition as well. Vivian’s father was a Marine Corps veteran who helped found the non-profit and Vivian has always been dedicated to it—something that the hero Rowan Valkyrie, an ex-Marine, doesn’t realize when he dismisses Vivian as a non-serious twenty-something. Of course, he ends up eating his words AND shooting at the bad guys who are trying to kill Vivian and her boss.

 

The Valkyrie Brothers Trilogy was inspired when I visited the Smith Tower in Seattle several years ago. The Smith Tower has a hand operated elevator and was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi. It’s distinct pyramid top and gorgeous art deco interior are an amazing setting for any story. However, while I quickly came up with the idea for the opening of what would become book three, when Ash and Harper meet in the elevator, it wasn’t until several years later that I finally figured out how to make all the brothers meet their love interests in their own elevators. Yes, that’s right. I really made them all meet in an elevator.

 

In Elevator Ride, Vivian ambushes Rowan in an elevator to serve him with papers. 

 

In Between Floors (Book 2, available June 23^rd), Rowan’s brother Forest is a single dad who thinks that perfection is the only answer to controlling the chaos of the universe. So, of course, fate delivers him a perfectly imperfect nanny. And then they get stuck in an elevator together and have to escape. 

 

And in Emergency Exit, the youngest Valkyrie brother Ash arrives at a party with Harper, the girl he just met in the elevator only to have everyone assume she’s his girlfriend. Except that a fake girlfriend might be just what Ash needs. The Valkyrie Brothers trilogy is a laugh-packed series of connected romantic mysteries starring the Valkyrie Brothers--Rowan, Forest, and Ash--as they struggle to find love AND stay alive in Seattle.

Elevator Ride

The Valkyrie Brothers, Book 1

 

Vivian Kaye has been tasked with serving a cease-and-desist letter to Rowan Valkyrie—the most hated tenant in Seattle’s Hoskins building—but when she ambushes the seasoned security professional in the elevator, she ignites a powder keg of tempers and attraction.

 

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Between Floors

The Valkyrie Brothers, Book 2

 

Wild-child Chloe Jordan returned to Seattle to face her past, but when she gets stuck in an elevator with grumpy Forest Valkyrie—the terminally stressed single dad who just rejected her as a nanny candidate—Chloe discovers that it's her future at stake.  

 

Pre-order (on sale June 23^rd)

 

Paper Poppies

Video link: https://youtube.com/shorts/zrR-ohmASOI

 

Materials:

Hard straws or sticks 

1” Styrofoam balls

Glue (Use a hot glue or low-temp glue gun or tacky glue.)

Red and black tissue paper or crepe paper

Florist tape

 

Directions:

1. Cut out approximately twelve red circles for the petals of each flower. The sample used a 3-1/2” circle template, but you can use slightly smaller or larger circles. If you don’t have a template, use a glass, round dish, or round cookie cutter. The circles don’t have to be perfect. Trace the outline over folded paper, then cut all the petals out at once.

 

2. For each flower, cut a black paper circle large enough to cover the Styrofoam ball. Cover the ball, securing with glue.

 

3. Fold/twist the petal shapes. Imperfect is best. Do a little zig-zag folding and crumpling.

 

4. Poke a straw into the bottom of the ball, glue to secure.

 

5. Glue petals to the ball and stem. Use as many as you think looks good.

 

6. Wrap florist tape around the base and straw stem, securing both ends with glue.

SOMETIMES A SLEUTH JUST NEEDS A LITTLE ROMANCE

Today being Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d invite my dear friend and fellow amateur sleuth Samantha Newman back to the blog. (There's also a surprise at the end of this post, so keep reading!)

Some of you may remember that Sam dropped by Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers back on November 15^th. For those of you who haven’t yet met her, Sam woke up one morning to discover her author, Gay Yellen, had shanghaied her life and turned her into an amateur sleuth. Sound familiar? Lois Winston did the same to me. Just as I now spend my days dealing with murder and mayhem in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, Sam now spends her days dealing with murder and mayhem in the Samantha Newman Mysteries.

Also, like my author, Sam’s author gave her a carrot in the form of a romantic interest. I have Zachary Barnes, and Sam has Carter Chapman. However, just like Lois, Gay couldn’t leave well enough alone. Like Zack, Carter may possibly be involved in clandestine government operations. The truth is on a need-to-know basis, and neither Lois nor Gay feel Sam and I need to know. Which, of course, creates all sorts of tension between us and our authors, not to mention between us and the men in our lives.

 

But it’s Valentine’s Day. I really don’t want to think about covert ops and alphabet agencies. Sam has decided likewise. So, we thought we’d share our perfect Valentine’s Day with you. Hopefully, our guys are reading this and will take the hint.

 

I’m thinking a private island resort with individual bungalows, free of interruptions from teenagers or a communist mother-in-law and her minions, and where we wouldn’t stumble over a dead body between the main course and desert. 

 

Once we arrive, we’d partake in a couple’s massage before a candlelight champagne dinner prepared and served by a private chef on our secluded patio. A string quartet would serenade us, and we’d slow-dance in the moonlight between courses. Dinner would begin with a Crab Louie salad served over a bed of bib lettuce, followed by escargot stuffed mushrooms. For an entrée we’d dine on pan seared scallops in a lemon-caper beurre blanc with roasted asparagus and truffle mashed potatoes. The meal would end with raspberry crème brûlée and hand-dipped chocolate truffles.

 

After dinner, we’ll curl up in bed to watch Singing in the Rain (because unlike most of my other favorite movies—Casablanca, Shakespeare in Love, Same Time Next Year, and La La Land—it has a happy ending), before turning out the lights. You’ll have to imagine what happens next since we live within the pages of cozy mysteries.

 

So, Sam. What’s your idea of a perfect Valentine celebration?

 

Wow, Anastasia, a private island is the perfect romantic escape from your wacky family! I’ll keep it in mind for another time. After my last scrape with a killer, I feel the need to be cocooning with Carter at his ranch in the hill country. Whenever he’s around, he loves to pamper me, so he’d cook, of course. A creamy vichyssoise to start—it tastes like something they eat in heaven. Maybe a gorgeous steak to follow, with lobster tails and a bottle of wine from the neighboring vineyard. Afterward, we’d sit by the fire drinking port in the library and listening to Miles Davis or Samara Joy. At some point, he’d start to massage my shoulder, and then we’d...oops, almost forgot that we’re in cozy land... Let’s just say, we’d get cozy!

 

In the morning, he’d make coffee and pancakes with maple syrup and fresh blueberries. We’d go for a horseback ride in the rolling hills around the ranch. Just when I start feeling that life could always be like this, he gets a message, heads off to who-knows-where, and another perfect Valentine’s Day bites the dust. Good thing I’m used to it by now.

 

Well, that sounds lovely, Sam (except for Carter rushing off, of course!) But since Zack is the gourmet chef in our family, and I’m more the microwave or oven-baked casserole queen, having him whip up our Valentine dinner wouldn’t be much of a holiday for him. Besides, he might get some ideas from the private chef and surprise me once we’re home. ;-)

 

My biggest worry, though, is knowing my author as I do, we’ll wake up the next morning and find the body of the private chef or one of the string quartet dead on the patio—and not from natural causes! Lois has a way of throwing a monkey wrench into any romantic interlude she allows me. We both know Gay is the same way with you. 

 

On second thought, maybe we’d just better stay home and order a heart-shaped pizza.

 

Oh well, pizza’s good. But what if the delivery guy is a serial killer?

The Samantha Newman Mysteries

All Samantha Newman wants is a good job, a place to call her own, and a chance at love. But in her rollercoaster life, things don’t come easy. Just when success seems possible, a dead body show up and Samantha's in the hot seat. If she didn’t have a sense of humor, she’d really go crazy. In the Samantha Newman Mysteries—The Body Business, The Body Next Door, and The Body in the News—you’ll laugh and maybe shed a tear as she wades through minefields in search of the life she wants to live.

The Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries

Crafts and murder don’t normally go hand-in-hand. However, normal deserted magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack’s world the day her husband permanently cashed in his chips in Las Vegas. That’s when her comfortable middle-class life crapped out. Now she's dealing with debt greater than the GNP of Uzbekistan, her husband’s mob-connected loan shark is demanding fifty G’s—or else, and she's stuck with her communist mother-in-law as a permanent houseguest. Life then leaps from how-do-I-dig-myself-out-of-this-hole? to how-do-I-keep-from-getting-killed? when the first dead body shows up.

There are now twelve books and three novellas in this humorous, critically acclaimed, and bestselling mystery series.

And now for the surprise!

For those of you who haven't read Assault with A Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, it's currently on sale for a limited time for only .99 cents at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and Apple.

MYSTERY AUTHOR LINDA RAWLINS LEAPS ACROSS THE POND IN HER NEW SERIES

Today we welcome mystery author Linda Rawlins who began writing her first mystery novel in fifth grade. She then went on to study science, medicine, and literature, eventually graduating from medical school and establishing her career in medicine. She’s now the author of several different mystery series, including the Misty Point Mysteries, The Rocky Meadow Mysteries, the Doctor Elizabeth Brooks Mysteries, and now, the Cassie Ashcroft Mysteries. Learn more about Linda and her books at her website, where you’ll also find links to her other social media. 

My name is Linda Rawlins, and I was born and raised in New Jersey. I love the real New Jersey. Despite its reputation, NJ boasts beautiful beaches, mountains, equestrian centers, state parks, and farms. I love visiting the NJ Shore as it is a great way to escape for vacation whether for a week or a day. The vastness of the ocean minimizes our concerns and resets our priorities. I also love mountains, trees, and hiking! In addition to trails in NJ, Vermont is one of my favorite states to visit. Over the last several years and due to many changes in the world, my family started watching British mysteries. 

 

During this time, I was struck by the similarities between parts of England and America, specifically beautiful rural areas. I normally write mysteries set at the Jersey Shore – the Misty Point Mystery Series. However, I recently started to think about writing a mystery located in England. 

 

Wexley, England is a fictitious village located in Devon County, UK. To the south is the English Channel, leading to the Atlantic Ocean and to the North is the Bristol Channel, leading to the Irish Sea. What a beautiful, rural place to write, find bodies, peace and quiet, and fall in love. 

 

Mystery at Heather House is my first British, romantic cozy mystery novel about a bestselling American writer, Cassie Ashcroft, who is sent to England to collect research for a publishing company while completing her own bestseller. Never having been to England, she set out to learn about the culture, customs, location, foods, and specific local flavors. 

 

I had so much fun and passion writing Mystery at Heather House as I learned so many things are very different yet very similar in other countries. By writing this book, I fell in love with village life and all the different personalities that live there. They exhibit the typical love/hate relationship of all close families and friends. I fell in love with the rural countryside of England, the cottages, open spaces, clean air, and simplicity. And I wrote about a very handsome, broad shouldered, single DCI living near the village who happens to be excellent at investigating murders and dead bodies. Sounds like a fantastic combination to me! 

 

I hope you’ll fall in love with my little village of Wexley and visit Cassie and Heather House often.  

Mystery at Heather House

A Cassie Ashcroft Mystery, Book 1

 

Best-selling author, Cassie Ashcroft, travels to England to work on her latest novel. While there, she must also collect research on a nonfiction book about the Wexley Police Department. Her assignment introduces her to brilliant, handsome, but distant, Detective Chief Inspector, Alexander Knight, who will be featured in the book due to his impressive solve rate. 

One of the DCI’s most frustrating unsolved cases is a murder that was discovered at Heather House, the remote, charming English cottage where Cassie is staying while in England. 

Forced to work together, Cassie and Alex collaborate to complete her research while investigating further incidents at the cottage. 

As they trace a path to the killer, they find themselves navigating mystery, romance, and mortal danger. After all, at the end of the day, all’s fair in love and murder. 

 

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MYSTERY AUTHOR ANNE LOUISE BANNON'S NEWEST RELEASE HAS A HOLIDAY TWIST

Mystery author Anne Louise Bannon has worked as a freelance journalist for magazines and newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. Her mystery series include the Old Los Angeles Series, the Freddie and Kathy Series, and the Operation Quickline Series. With her husband Michael Holland she created the OddBallGrape.com wine education blog and is also the co-author (with Serita Stevens) of a book on poisons for writers. Learn more about Anne Louise and her books at her website.

Re-Visiting Christmas

Happy Boxing Day, everyone!

 

Yes, I am one of those who enjoys keeping Christmas going all the way through January 6 (aka Twelfth Night or the Feast of the Epiphany). So, it’s no surprise that Christmas figures into a few of my novels, particularly the Operation Quickline Series. That’s the one featuring Lisa Wycherly and Sid Hackbirn as a pair of spies who fall for each other. In short, the books are essentially cozy spy novels. Or romances with espionage intrusions.

 

I’ve been publishing them first as serials on my blogs, which is a lot of fun, and the most recent, Just Because You’re Paranoid, finished up the week before Christmas. I hadn’t planned it that way, but it worked out especially well since the novel ends with the holiday. Even more fun, there’s a scene sort of near the end that echoes a scene in the first Quickline novel, That Old Cloak and Dagger Routine.

 

The series is set in the 1980s. In the first novel, Lisa comes to live at Sid’s house and gets recruited into the spy business as Sid’s partner. By the time December rolls around, Sid and Lisa are just beginning their friendship and the focus is on how different they are in terms of their values. Sid is a playboy, spending four to six nights a week trying to get laid, and he is more successful than not. Lisa is a nice, church-going woman and a virgin. Sid was also raised as an atheist by an aunt who was a Communist, and they lived among a bunch of bohemians, beatniks, and later hippies, which accounts for Sid’s belief in free love.

 

In fact, we find out that Sid has never celebrated holidays, including Thanksgiving (“A part of Capitalistic propaganda to convince the people they are not oppressed and dedicated to a god that doesn’t exist.”) or Christmas.

 

Lisa, on the other hand, loves Christmas, loves decorating the house, loves eggnog, and the annual Christmas pajamas from her mom. And, yes, Sid gets swept into it. In particular, there’s the scene where Lisa has borrowed Sid’s car to get the Christmas tree. Lisa comes back from the errand bubbling over. She has, once again, found the perfect tree. Sid is a little perturbed to find a tree tied to the top of his beloved Mercedes 450SL, but helps Lisa get it off the car, and hefts the tree into the house, as Lisa shouts out directions to bring it in foot-first. She’s already shifted some of the furniture in the living room to make room in the front window. The tree is gorgeous, but exactly five inches too tall.

 

Fast forward three years to the holiday season in Just Because You’re Paranoid.

Sid and Lisa are engaged to be married. The two jointly own what had been Sid’s house and it has been completely remodeled. Lisa’s parents, who have in the past stayed with her sister Mae and her family, are spending the holiday at Sid and Lisa’s place. Sid has taken custody of his 12-year-old son, and it’s Nick’s first Christmas with Sid and Lisa and her family.

 

The bringing home of the tree remains the same. Lisa arrives home with Nick, shouting and bubbling over. Sid gets called on, along with Bill, Lisa’s father, to get the even larger tree out of her truck. Lisa shouts instructions on how to remove the tree and get it into the house as Sid reminds her repeatedly that they’ve done this before. And the tree is five inches too tall. Again.

 

Yes, there are significant differences, which is part of the fun. But there is also a connection to the past Christmases that was so much fun to play with. It’s how real life happens, and it’s one of those things that makes Christmas and other such holidays so very special. Every year we celebrate Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or whatever we celebrate, is utterly new. We’re different people than we were before. But it’s also a connection to the past, as well. Not only the history that gave us the holidays, but our personal histories as well. And it’s fun to celebrate that, even fictionally.

 

Just Because You’re Paranoid

Operation Quickline, Book 9

 

It doesn't mean they're not out to get you

 

Lisa Wycherly and Sid Hackbirn find themselves up against a relentless enemy and about to get the shock of their lives in book nine of the Operation Quickline Series. First, there's the wedding. Not Sid and Lisa's, but her cousin Maggie's, where Sid and his son, Nick, raise all sorts of eyebrows. 

 

Then there's the attempt on Sid's life. Then Sid and Lisa's good friends are recruited into their top-secret organization. Then there's Lisa's sister being jealous, and a new house getting close to being ready, and Sid and Lisa's own wedding to work on, and Nick bringing home every bug there is at his new school and sharing it with his parents.

 

Being highly trained top-secret counter-intelligence agents will only help so far as the circles of family complications ripple outward. Sid and Lisa try to cope with the multiple surprises as they train their two friends and track down a ruthless killer determined to take both of them out.

 

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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--AUTHOR KAREN McCULLOUGH ON BOOK CLUBS AND HER BOOK CLUB CENTERED SERIES

Karen McCullough is the award-winning author of almost two dozen published novels and novellas in the mystery, romance, suspense, and fantasy genres, including the Market Center Mysteries Series and the No Brides Club Romance Series. Today she joins us to talk about book clubs. Learn more about her and her books at her website and blog.

A Book Series Joined Together by a Book Club

By Karen McCullough

 

Confession: Although my most recent book, Falling for the Deputy, is part of a series centered around a group of women who belong to the Hopeless Romantics book club, I’ve never belonged to a book club myself. Everything I know about them, I’ve learned from listening to others talk about the ones they are in. 

 

I’ve often thought it would be fun to be part of a group focused on talking about books, but I’m not sure it would work for me. For one thing, my time is at a premium. I already have too many demanding jobs. When I do have time to read, I generally want something light and entertaining.

 

But more importantly, I’m an author. That has changed my relationship with books and the way I read, especially fiction. I suspect my slant is akin to the way people in the movie industry watch films. Instead of being able to sink into the dream being presented in words or on screen, we wonder about the tricks, maneuvers, and sleight of hand the creators are using to convince us that what we’re reading or seeing is true.

 

I write romance, mysteries, suspense, and paranormal, and I’ve read widely in all of those genres. I grew up reading a lot of mystery novels because my dad had an extensive library. I gobbled up Rex Stout, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Josephine Tey, and John D. McDonald in my teenage years, after graduating from Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.

 

Back in those days, the books often surprised and amazed me by producing solutions I didn’t see coming.

 

Now, I can tell when the author is setting up that person we casually met in chapter three, who appears to be just an interested friend, as the murderer. It’s all too clear that the grumpy but good-looking sheriff is going to end up being a love interest. The irritating neighbor will have a key piece of information. 

 

That scene in Harry Potter book six, between Snape and Dumbledore? Most people experienced it one way. I recognized the careful wording and realized there was another way to read it. I knew where the author was going with it.

 

When I read books now, I can’t help considering how the author is building specific characters, even down to the words he or she uses to describe them. I think about the setting and background and how they relate to what’s happening. 

 

Basically, it’s hard to sink into the dream and let the characters carry me away. Instead, I tend to try to take a book apart and see what makes it tick. 

 

That doesn’t mean an author can’t surprise me on occasion. It’s rare but I love it when it does happen.

 

Still, I think authors read books differently from the way most readers and book clubs seem to approach them. Readers want to talk about how the books affected them, whether they liked the characters, whether the plot worked, what they thought the author intended, whether it succeeded or not, etc. They explore whether the book worked for them.

 

An author wants to know what a fellow writer did to make it work.

 

Falling for the Deputy

Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge, Book 4

 

After losing at love twice, Barbara Wilton needs a change, some place far from her home in Boston, so she takes a position as manager of a small branch bank in Willow Ridge, Georgia. She’s done with relationships and ready to concentrate on her career. The experience in Willow Ridge will help her move forward in the banking industry, but she doesn’t plan to stay there permanently. Nevertheless, an invitation to join the Hopeless Romantics book club, a position on a planning committee, helping a little league team that needs coaching, and being adopted by a stray dog begin to wind her into the community. Meeting Deputy Chris Harper, a former Charlotte police officer until his marriage fell apart, draws her even deeper. But when money goes missing and Barbara becomes the chief suspect, duty and feelings collide.

 

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR MARY VINE COOKS UP BURRITOS

Mary Vine is a contemporary romance author who has also published an historical novella and a romantic mystery. She also owns a publishing company and besides self-publishing some of her own works, she’s published two children’s books by author Velma Parker. Learn more about Mary and her books at her website. 

As an author, I have learned that meals in a story can be the setting for conversation that moves the story along, whether it is at a restaurant or a home cooked meal. I think many of us as readers want to know what the characters are cooking and/or eating.

In my twenties and thirties I loved cooking and having friends over for dinner. Weekly, I used to bake whole wheat bread and slice it up for my family’s toast and sandwiches. Nearly every other day, I’d bake some kind of dessert for my skinny self, but shared with others. Since then, the demands of a job and the dream of being a writer would keep me from having any spare thoughts, or energy, for making anything but ordinary meals.  I believed those days of putting a recipe together with joy had vanished some time ago, along with my fabulous metabolism.

With years comes wisdom, I’ve heard, not to mention a freezer and a little more money to stock the shelves. Isn’t it funny how you can put something in the appliance and forget about it the very next week? After you go shopping again, the desired meal-to-be will be buried by other items you have to have and other things you have to remember. So, as the years passed, my main cooking goal was to simply look inside the freezer with new eyes, month by month, and save myself money by eating the contents for lunch or dinner. This is a tricky task despite the fact that to be able to empty a few shelves brings about a feeling of great accomplishment.

Now, years later, I’m in love again. What happened, you say? I retired from my day job. The satisfying return to the kitchen didn’t happen all at once, it took a few months, but I found that just under the surface of my subconscious lied an ability only needing to be stirred up again. Newfound sparks of renewed energy brought it forward.

The desire has come back with other benefits, too. I used to rarely veer off a recipe, not wishing to waste ingredients if my attempt at change failed. Now after I look into the freezer, I might grab a portion of meat, cook it in the crockpot and use the leftovers to invent some new dish, or have several choices of potato recipes as a side dish. I believe a great accomplishment as well.

I still have the desire to eat lots of sweets, but with the years I’ve also learned the bounds of my metabolism and how to work with it, of course some days are better than others. I’ve heard eating vegetarian meals can help, so I give you one my heroine Maya presented to a neighbor in my first published book, Maya’s Gold.

In Maya’s Gold, Maya filled a casserole dish with burritos and took them over to her neighbor, Alice. This is the recipe I was thinking about when I wrote this section of the story.

Maya Valentine’s Burrito Recipe
Makes 12 burritos.

(Burritos, Old El Paso Sun Country Mexican Cookbook)
12 8-inch flour tortillas
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 16-ounce cans Old El Paso Refried Beans
1 large tomato, chopped
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 medium avocado, seeded, peeled, and cut in 12 wedges
Old El Paso Taco Sauce

Wrap stack of tortillas tightly in foil; heat in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Cook onion in hot oil until tender but not brown. Add refried beans; cook and stir till heated through.

Spoon about 1/3 cup bean mixture onto each tortilla near one edge. Top with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and avocado wedge. Fold edge nearest filling up and over filling just until mixture is covered. Fold in two sides, envelope fashion, then roll up. Arrange on baking sheet; bake in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until heated through.

Pass around the taco sauce.

Maya’s Gold

All famous mystery author Stanton Black wanted was to leave the flashbulbs of Hollywood behind. Hiding out in the wilds of northeast Oregon seemed like the perfect way to get over an attempt on his life while researching his work.

Special education teacher, Maya Valentine was no tour guide. After the death of her parents, Maya has come home for the summer only to have an ailing friend talk her into escorting Stanton around the area. As a pattern of crime around her leads to mystery, her relationship with Stanton turns to thoughts of romance. A romance too impossible to consider.

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CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--GUEST AUTHOR M.S. SPENCER ON NEEDLEPOINT AND MURDER

Late 17th or Early 18th Century Italian or French Silk Bargello

M.S. Spencer has published nine novels, lived on five continents, borne two children, and loves the Florida sky and the Maine woods. Learn more about her and her books at her blog.

My romance/murder mystery Artful Dodging: the Torpedo Factory Murders takes place in Old Town Alexandria, an historic cobblestoned city on the Potomac River in Virginia. It follows the adventures of several artists at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. An old munitions factory on the waterfront, it lay abandoned after World War II until the 1970s, when an intrepid band of local ladies convinced the City of Alexandria to lease it to them for an art center. Today it houses 82 studios, the Art League, the Friends of the Torpedo Factory, and an Archaeology center. I had the pleasure of serving as the Executive Director of the Friends of the Torpedo Factory for several years and watched the artists at work, weaving their often-eccentric personalities into my characters. My office was in the tower at the top of the building, where Milo finds her first dead body.

In Artful Dodging Milo Everhart creates delicate needlepoint, while her friend Tekla Spirikova sculpts large metal objects. Together they fight City Hall (literally,) which wants to give their beloved Torpedo Factory Art Center away. Things get complicated when their greatest adversary turns out to be the man Milo loves, and even more complicated when too many murder victims turn up.

I have been doing needlepoint since my children were small. I made needlepoint Christmas stockings for everyone in the family before moving on to eyeglass cases. Of course, friends and relatives could only use so many eyeglass cases, and after awhile I began to find them hidden in nooks and crannies about the house. I still love it, but I'm not the artist Milo is. Which is why she has a studio in the famous Torpedo Factory and is a juried artist with all kinds of awards.

Antique Crewel Embroidery

Milo paints her own canvases, chooses her own yarns and colors, and finishes the product, be it a clutch or eyeglass case, pillow top or picture. She uses a variety of stitches, including Bargello.

Bargello uses thick, usually bright colored yarn on canvas. It's named after a collection of chair seats in the Bargello Museum in Florence, Italy. The long, vertical stitches usually cover two or more threads. It makes a nice thick mat--good for heavy use items, although the technique limits designs to geometric patterns.

Milo also does crewel--true embroidery that uses silk or cotton floss and a variety of stitches such as stem stitch, French knots, and satin stitch. Crewel is used for delicate items--samplers or pillows. Many people like counted cross stitch, but Milo hates it because, since she has to count the stitches to know when to change colors, she can't focus on her love life or the murders that keep cropping up at the Torpedo Factory Art Center.

For more information on the Torpedo Factory, check out their website. You'll also find more descriptions of the art of needlepoint in Artful Dodging.

Artful Dodging: the Torpedo Factory Murders
Waiting out the rain, Milo Everhart takes stock of her widowhood and the handsome man standing in the door to the bar. Little does she know she will meet that man again and again under both passionate and terrifying circumstances.

Tristram Brody waits for his date, too conscious of the beautiful woman sitting by the door. Little does he know that she will hate him for trying to destroy her beloved art center and even suspect him of murder. Nor that she will be drawn inevitably into his arms. 

Little does either of them suspect they will be embroiled in not one, but two murders, in which the fate of the Torpedo Factory, an art center housed in an old munitions factory on the waterfront of Old town Alexandria, will be decided.

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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY GUEST AUTHOR - KERI FORD/CHARLEY COLINS

One day Arkansas farm girl Keri Ford picked up a copy of Cosmo and read an excerpt of Christina’s Skye’s Code Name: Princess. Her life would never be the same. She now writes romances as Kerri Ford and romantic mysteries as Charley Colins. Visit Kerri/Charley at her website to learn more about her and her books. -- AP

The Secret Stash

Sara Livingston, heroine of Taken By Trouble, isn’t the craftiest girl out there. Not in the sense of gluing and sewing. She’s crafty in her thoughts, but she has the occasional moment.

She is a total and complete chocoholic. It’s one of the first things that draws her to the hero—she smells chocolate on his shirt. From fun sized to king size, it’s sweet, sweet comfort food. When things really hit the fan, Sara lays on the floor with a bag of chocolates and eats the whole bag. When the hero, Clark, returns, he finds her surrounded by wrappers.

Everybody needs this survival kit. While Sara’s kit had been brought to her, many of us aren’t so lucky. And when we bring chocolate in the house, husbands, kids, pets, visitors all seem to think it’s a free-for all.

So, for you crafty readers, I suggest a secret stash.

Clark has a secret stash in the bottom drawer of a dresser. And in his bag. Both are for when Sara’s hair is on end. (She eventually finds both…he needs to hide better if he wants to ration them out!)

I secret stash, too. I’m the only one who eats somewhat healthy in this house, so a handful of treats stuck behind the fruit will go unnoticed. I have decorative boxes by my desk filled with office supplies. (psst…paper and pens aren’t all that’s in there!). Here’s some secret stash ideas:

-Old purses hanging in the closet.

-The bowl in the cabinet you keep because it belonged to your great-great aunt, but you never use it.

-An empty tampon box (or half full…you never know).

-Behind your shoe rack.

-The pockets of your robe.

-Pull all your books forward and inch, fill the new space behind them.

Where are you stashing the goods, and do you have any other ideas?

Taken By Trouble

It’s not every day a girl takes out the trash and is nearly run over for it, but that’s exactly what happens to Sara Livingston. Manager and waitress at a bar, Sara typically spends her days serving drinks and turning up the TV volume on the latest sports game, a job that is quite enough to make her mostly liked by all. When she’s dropped into a game of cat and mouse with a stalker, she has no idea who could be behind the wheel of the truck or why they want her flattened on the pavement.

With her private eye brother out of town, she’s relying on her brother’s coworker, Clark Russells, to keep her from eating asphalt.

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SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY

We're starting something new here at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers on Sundays. Along with announcing the winners when we have giveaways, we'll occasionally be participating in Six Sentence Sunday -- a teaser of six sentences from either those humorous amateur sleuth books about moi (see sidebar) written by author Lois Winston, or one of her other books, not about moi. Yes, much to my dismay, she does spend time with other protagonists, the two-timer!  :-(


Today, six sentences from Death By Killer Mop Doll, the latest Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery:

So after tossing in a load of wash, I microwaved a cup of coffee left over from breakfast. I was about to take my second sip when Zack’s silver Porsche Boxster rolled down the driveway.

He waved as he killed the engine and jumped out. Returning the wave, I watched -- no, I stared like a star-struck teeny-bopper at a Justin Bieber concert -- as he retrieved his overnight bag and camera case from the trunk. Where is the justice? No man, especially one in his mid-forties, has the right to look that damn good in a pair of jeans.

Death By Killer Mop Doll is available from all the usual suspects. Buy links can be found on Lois's website.

Like the idea of Six Sentence Sunday? Other authors participating can be found at the Six Sentence Sunday website.

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- GUEST AUTHOR MIA MARLOWE

Author Mia Marlowe is our Book Club Friday guest today. Mia writes historical romance with a pinch of paranormal magic for Kensington and Sourcebooks. Her work was featured in the Best of 2010 edition of PEOPLE magazine and one of her books is on display at the Museum of London Docklands alongside memorabilia from Johnny Depp and Errol Flynn. A classically trained soprano, Mia describes her stories as a cross between Grand Opera and Gilbert & Sullivan...with sex! Learn more about Mia and her books at her website. -- AP

Romance with Mysterious Heart…

First of all, thanks for having me here today, Anastasia. Now I know all of you are probably asking yourself why an historical author is visiting a mystery blog, but I promise there's a good reason. You see, I like to tuck a little mystery into my love stories as a secondary plot.

In my Victorian-set Touch of a Thief, my hero and heroine are on the trail of a malevolent red diamond that's on its way to the Royal Collection. There are multiple couriers bearing fakes to protect the rare stone, but my heroine uses her special ability to "hear" gemstones in order to find the right one.

In my novella A Knack for Trouble in the anthology Improper Gentlemen, there is a true murder mystery, but the trail has gone cold. You see, my hero confessed to murdering the upstairs maid in order to protect someone else. Now he's out to clear his name. And make sure another strangled corpse isn't found in the grotto in the center of the maze.

In my newest e-novella, A Duke for All Seasons, Arabella and Sebastian don't have much reason to trust each other, but they must work together to rescue her daughter from the French assassin who's kidnapped her.

In each case, the mystery is one of many threads in my story, but I love weaving that texture into the backdrop of a romance. The basic premise of all romance is: Boy Meets Girl, Boy messes things up with Girl, Boy gets Girl. In my stories part of the messing up and eventual getting is tied up in how the hero and heroine work together to unravel the mystery. It's a chance for them to use all their abilities and confront their fears. A chance for my characters to grow individually as well as together.

One of my favorite romances with a mystery component is Nora Roberts’ Carolina Moon. Share your favorite romance with a mystery tucked into it, and you'll be entered in my random drawing to receive a copy of Improper Gentlemen.

Looking forward to hearing from YOU!

So readers, what’s your favorite romance with a mystery or maybe your favorite romantic mystery? My favorite is Envy by Sandra Brown. Let’s hear from you. And as always, either include your email address or don’t forget to check back on Sunday to learn if you’re the lucky winner. Remember, we need to be able to contact the winner in order to ship the book. -- AP